InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Same Thing, Different Time ❯ I'll Take You Home ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: Same as any of the other chapters. Don't own any part. Not looking to gain anything.

This is a note to those that have written reviews. I have received several reviews for this story, but unfortunately MediaMiner seems not to allow me to be able to read any of them except two. I have gone through the link that they send me to notify of a review posting update, and I have gone to the one at the site itself, but I cannot pull them up to read. I would love to know what your comments are about my work, but as things are now, I'm just hoping that you are enjoying this story. Sorry I haven't been able to make any responses to any review because of this problem.

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 10: I'll Take You Home

The smell of fear still coursed through her, but it was starting to mingle with that of relief now that she was safe. Ha! If that wasn't a contradiction of itself! She had came this way because she was afraid of him in the first place!

"Are you alright?" he asked quietly, knowing that she wasn't because he could smell the blood, if not seeing it smeared on her knee.

"Yeah," she answered in a dull voice as one hand helped to push herself up while the other rose to her forehead pressing fingers against tender skin above her eyebrow. "I think so."

A strong grip was felt upon her arm as he helped her rise and steady herself.

"Arigato," she said softly, still not looking at him. He released her.

She then proceeded to brush herself off, highly conscious that he stood there watching her. She could just imagine how he looked -- arms folded across his chest, a scowl on his face probably thinking that if she had gone with him in the first place this wouldn't have happened. She wanted to argue herself and say, 'who's to say it wouldn't have with him', but after this… after he was there to save her she didn't think that he would have after all.

"Oh, man," she groaned, straightening her leg out in front of her a bit, balancing it upon her heel and examined the reopened wound with freshly torn skin around it. Blood was smeared over her knee and a small trickle started making a path down the front of her leg. Bending down, Kagome wiped off what was running with a finger, discarding it to the ground with a flick of her hand, and then picked off the few grains of rock embedded there with her fingernail. "If I don't stop getting it scraped, it's going to leave an even bigger scar."

Further concern over her knee was forgotten once she pulled up her socks, which left traces of blood behind on them from doing so, and turned her attention to dusting off the back of herself.

Her hands made little brushing strokes with her movements slightly harder as she dusted off her bottom, then she hesitated for a moment, feeling something moist against one hand. Bringing it around to see what it was, she saw that it was smeared with blood. She gasped softly, stretching her leg behind her, this time to balance herself on the ball of her foot. Twisting her head, she tried to peer over her shoulder to see how bad it was even knowing that it was impossible to discern anything back there. Yet, still, it didn't stop her from trying. The next instant all she knew was being pulled forward, her arm caught in a grip and then landing with awkwardness against him.

InuYasha had noticed the blood smeared on her hand, also, when she brought it back around. He immediately took a partial step forward, reaching out to grasped a hold of her opposite arm, and then pulled her until she was against the front of his side. Her cheek pressed against the outer part of his upper arm, the bend of his elbow prevented her from slipping forward to an awkward stance, as did his leg. In this position, he was able to easily jerk up the back of her skirt to assess the injury.

Landing against him was startling enough, but her senses were given another shock as no sooner was she brought up against him she felt the back of her skirt lifted up. Comprehension of that fact took a moment or two to register properly, -- including the knowledge of his leg settled almost between hers, -- and when it did, her reaction was immediate as she shoved back away from him and a loud audible crack vibrated the alleyway.

She had managed to get a recoil out of him as where the man earlier had not.

"What…" InuYasha angrily exclaimed in confusion, holding a hand against his injured cheek. "What the hell did you do that for?!"

"For pulling my skirt up, you jerk!" she shot back, quickly smoothing the material back down.

There was a second that InuYasha just stared at her as if he didn't understand her reasoning, then his ire set back in and pushed his face out toward her. "Baka! I was seeing how badly you were hurt!"

She responded in the like. "Well, next time, if I'm not unconscious, I can see to it myself, thank you very much!"

"Fine! It's not like I really care anyway!" And he turned away from her, crossing his arms.

"Whatever," she tossed back, knowing the true reason for her outburst was stemming from embarrassment. She then took a step to leave and winced from the pain that shot through her leg.

Immediately InuYasha's hands were there to keep her upright, despite that he had been facing the opposite way just a moment before.

"Come," he sighed, turning his back to her again. "Get on. I'll take you home."

He bent down low to allow her to climb on easier.

"Get on…your…back?"

"Yes. You're hurt and I can get you there way faster than you can walk."

He stood there, hunched down like that, waiting, but even after several seconds passed he still did not feel any movement that indicated she was getting on. Just as he started to turn his head to look behind him, about ready to say something, he felt her hand upon his shoulder, a push of his hair, and then her weight straddle across his back. The heat of her body was more than what he expected. In Kagome's point of view, she was glad that he hadn't turned completely to see her for she was certainly blushing from head to toe at the prospect of straddling him like that - a near stranger to her, and a demon one at that, and yet he was more than that to her right now. Steeling herself against the awkwardness, her cheeks hot, she yielded to the offer and climbed up.

"Press your legs against the sides of me," he instructed, meaning for her to position them against his sides rather than have them flopping in front of him. But when she just squeezed her legs tightly around him, he just barked, "Feh! Pull your legs up like you would ride a race horse!"

The sharpness of his tone had her responding quickly to his order. Her hands tightened upon his shoulders while she lifted herself up a bit to gain a better balance once she lessened the hold of her lower half. There was nothing she could do about pressing against him more full as she did so.

Her legs loosened their hold around his waist, and she felt his hands cup underneath her feet to help guide them to where he wanted them positioned. Instead of staying where she was, or settling back down, she lifted her body off slightly.

"Sit down," he commanded harshly, and immediately felt the weight of her body pressing back down upon him as her legs clasped snug against his sides.

Not thinking -- definitely, not thinking -- Kagome returned absently, "I am sitting…"

"KA-WHAM!

InuYasha went down with Kagome right along, on top, with him. Of course she didn't have the enchanted pull as he did, but having the ground beneath her, so to speak, suddenly vanish, gravity had its own effect.

Ow! The pain! She winched to herself as the pavement scoured off more tender skin from her already injured knee, not to mention another crack she got on her forehead as she fell against the back of his head.

She laid there crumpled against him for a few moments, hearing the muffled sounds beneath her, but was too dazed to do anything more than stay as she was. When they continued, she began to stir, pushing herself up, and it was at that same time that he was able to raise his head and make the words very clear.

"GET THE HELL OFF ME, WENCH!! GET OFF!! GET OFF!! GET--THE-- HELL--OFF!!"

As fast as a scalded cat, Kagome half scooted, half rolled off his inert form, coming to rest on the back of her legs next to him and the impression he made into the ground.

"I'm so sorry about that, InuYasha! I didn't mean…!"

He cut her off by making a sound in the back of his throat that reminded her of a low growl, and all she could do was watch as he strained against the invisible pressure that held him down. No matter how much he tried to push himself up, he could only do so as the force lessened bit by bit on it's own.

Despite her having gotten off him, he continued to grumble beneath his breath, and if that wasn't enough, his bared clenched teeth told her all she needed to know as to how he felt right then. It should have made her get up and run the rest of the way home, she felt a need to escape him, but she couldn't. She just sat there, and he didn't stop his growls until he was finally able to unplaster himself completely from the ground.

"InuYasha…" she spoke his name in an effort to lead into an apology, her voice just a little more than a whisper but it held genuine sincerity.

"Just shut up and get on," he snapped, silencing her, and crouched down once more for her.

"…I really am sorry. I…"

"Feh," he growled loudly, giving a twisting backward jerk of his head, wordlessly ordering her to get on.

It took a moment, but then he saw her rise up and felt her touch upon him: she moved his hair to the side before climbing up and positioning herself once more against his back. This time her legs pressed against him where they ought to be.

"It's… It's a long way to walk with me on your back like this."

He gave an arrogant snort, commenting, "As if you're anything more than a flea on my back."

He started to stand up, and the action compelled her to press her body more fully against him, half afraid that she would fall backwards if he straighten any further. Then she exclaimed, "My backpack."

Without a word, InuYasha moved toward the abandoned satchel and picked it up.

"Ready?" he asked, and felt her head nod against his hair and the uncertain yet soft, "Umm-uh."

"Hang on." Clasping her by the back of her legs, he took off, not giving her time for any protests.

He ran, but not so much so that the air would rip the girl off his back either. No, he waited until he felt her clutch at his shoulders more firmly, had felt her fingers dig into the material of his shirt before he sped up his pace. His body stayed low, allowing the wind to rush past him much easier. Kagome just held on to him, keeping her head down and nearly under his mane of hair. For him to be running as he was, the ride wasn't as jarring as one would have expected it to be. She knew what it was like getting her teeth rattled, but his movements were fluidly smooth.

With her eyes tightly shut, she could only feel that InuYasha jumped upward. His body straightened a bit and then she felt her body being pushed downward as a gush of air plummeted against her, which forced her to tighten her hold. Her heart beat so hard and fast in her chest; she was sure that he could feel it against his back too.

She felt a sort of 'leveling out', and finally dared to take a peek to see where they were, discovering only blue sky surrounding them. Venturing a little more of a look, she saw the tops of the scattered trees and roofs of the houses and buildings below.

"InuYasha," her breath caught in her throat, and she pressed her body closer against him if that was possible.

A little smile curled the corners of his mouth.

He started in his downward decent, feeling the tightening clasp of her body as she made ready for the impact of the landing. He could sense her fear, but it made her snuggle that much closer to him and he was liking the feel of her against his back.

It wasn't the jarring splat she had anticipated. It was almost… gentle as his foot touched upon the surface of the roof of one of the houses, and, yet, no sooner had he touched down, he sprang once again into the air. After a couple more bounds, her body started to relax against him, her fear of the unexpected now giving way to a whole new kinds of wonder. She felt just like an extension of his own body, fitting against him so well.

So! This is what flying was like… kind of. The air rushing around you, gliding over the surface of the world below, seeing more than a person could ever hope to see… except… maybe people in hang gliders she guessed. But this -- this was exhilarating! And her heart beat even that much faster, only it was now for different reasons than before.

InuYasha touched down once more; this time landing on the pavement of the sidewalk and he sped down the path for the short, remaining distance it took to reach the entrance gate of her home. Almost as quickly as it began, the trip was ending and she felt a pang of disappointment.

He didn't stop at the gate, but his speed had greatly lessened as the surrounding scenery didn't pass by in a blur. Still he managed in no time at all to zip up the flight of stairs, cross the courtyard, and up the second flight as well. He didn't take her right up to the door of her home, instead deciding on a safer distance several yards away. He then crouched down to allow her to slide off, and stood up.

Kagome didn't move away. Instead, she stood there, holding on to him as she regained the use of her legs. If hers were this wobbly then she knew she had to have crushed his ribs in.

After a short time, it was InuYasha that grumbled impatiently, "You going to stand there pressed against me all day?"

His words were rewarded by her stepping back from him and her hands falling away. The instant she did that he felt a loss when the warmth of her body wasn't there anymore. He turned and handed her backpack to her.

She gave him a faint, awkward smile as she said, "Arigatougouzaimasu (thank you very much), InuYasha, for saving me back there."

Before he even stopped to think, the words came tumbling out of his mouth. "I wasn't saving you. I was making sure nothing happened to the necklace." Then added, a little late to be asking, "You do still have it, don't you?"

At first she just stood there staring into his golden eyes, then she dropped hers to the pack she had in her hands. Reaching one hand up to her chest, she felt the round stone beneath her shirt. "Yes." she replied weakly.

"That's all that matters."

She didn't have a smart comment to throw back at him just then, not really, not after he still saved her -- whether it was because of the jewel or not. She took a step to the side of him and started to move past.

"'Bye, InuYasha. Thanks anyway."

(Sweat-drop from InuYasha)

He watched silently as she walked to the door; he could tell that her leg was bothering her, and there was still a fresh course of blood coming down the side from under her skirt that was now stained at the hem.

"You're still bleeding." He said before she got to the door.

"Yeah, well…" What was she to say about that? "I'll live."

She didn't stop as he thought she might, and then vanished into the house without another word or glance.

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Yes, I did some research and Arigatougouzaimasu is the right word for Thank you very much. I know it's a mouthful, huh?