InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Soul Exchange ❯ Wake Up ( Chapter 10 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: RozeFire 
"What's your problem? I'm alive - so don't be so angry at me!" Kagome cried.
"I'm not angry at you!" he snapped. "I'm angry at me!"
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Comedy / Angst / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.06.2003 | Updated On: 07.24.2003 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 1.7K | Status: Completed
"What's your problem? I'm alive - so don't be so angry at me!" Kagome cried.
"I'm not angry at you!" he snapped. "I'm angry at me!"
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Comedy / Angst / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.06.2003 | Updated On: 07.24.2003 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 1.7K | Status: Completed
AN: Well that was a bad cliff hanger. Sorry about that ^_^
Soul Exchange
Wake Up
She didn't dare move... barely allowed herself to breathe in case she stirred him again. He'd fallen asleep... but she wasn't sure how long that would last until he woke up again.
But then again... if she stiffened up too much then he would stir slightly... so she had to force herself to relax and breathe as calmly as possible under the circumstances.
Kagome just knew he would be furious, if or when he returned back to normal. She'd already planned her line of defence - ready to recall statistics and perfect excuses if he got mad at her later. Not that any of this was her fault... if anything she should be mad at him.
But it was hard to be mad at someone who slept so soundly and as peacefully as Inuyasha. Granted... she couldn't actually see his face since he had it securely tucked in the crook of her neck and shoulder. But judging by the rest of him, she gathered he slept like a baby.
He stirred again, and Kagome tried to control her breathing as he mumbled something against the sensitive skin of her neck, his lips tickling her. She had to refrain from laughing since that was certain to wake him up. She was half looking forward to him waking up and getting off her... but the other half wanted him to stay like this with her... and not because she was scared of what he would say when he woke up.
Inuyasha's arms rested slightly on either side of her torso, while the rest of his body was slumped completely against hers. Kagome would have pushed him off long ago... but he was VERY heavy. No normal person could be so heavy... but then again Inuyasha wasn't exactly what she'd call normal. At some point during the night she'd squirmed enough to allow her legs to move... causing Inuyasha to fall between them - making a very compromising position. If anyone came in on them like they were right then, then Kagome surely would have died from embarrassment-
Just then someone came in on them. Sango to be more exact. Kagome snapped her head round to the door just in time to see the servant girl drop her silver tray onto the floor with a loud crash. Surprisingly, it didn't rouse Inuyasha much.
"What... what have you done...?" Sango whispered in shock. "You're alive - are you ok? What are you doing in here?"
"What does it look like I'm doing in here?" Kagome whispered urgently. "Please Sango - could you just help me get him off me before he wakes up and realises-"
Sango suddenly shot off out of the room. "Lady Inu! You were right! They were at it like bunnies all night!"
"Oh dear..." Kagome whispered and felt her face heating up. She'd have to clear up that misunderstanding quickly before Inuyasha woke up...
All the noise Sango had made must have suddenly just reached Inuyasha's brain, and he began to stir seriously as he began to wake up. Kagome closed her eyes and starting muttering little prayers under her breath, pleading with any gods that Inuyasha was back to normal, and that he wouldn't rip her throat out in a few seconds. Inuyasha's hands moved from where they were lightly clutching the bed sheets to gently touch against her shoulders, his cheek nudging her jaw to the side to get better access to nuzzle her throat.
Kagome's heart sped up phenomenally.
Out of the blue she felt him place a warm open mouthed kiss to her bare shoulder, and she could feel the light scrape of his fangs over the skin. She just knew he had to have been awake when his leg moved slightly, pushing her thighs further apart.
Kagome's heart was no longer just a fast beat - it was racing so fast it seemed like it was just one long beat... that couldn't be healthy... no doubt Inuyasha could feel it too. She almost felt blessed relief when he stopped doing those small sensual things to press his forehead against her shoulder and give a big bone-cracking yawn.
Suddenly he stopped moving completely and Kagome wondered if he'd gone to sleep again. But that hope was suddenly dashed when he lifted his upper half off her so fast it was a wonder he didn't get whiplash.
"Kagome?"
"Inuyasha?" She was glad to see his clear golden eyes again and his stripe free face.
"What are you doing in my bed?" his eyes darted between them and he suddenly turned a little red as he realised their position, remembering what he'd just been doing to her. Poor boy had probably been half asleep.
"You..." Kagome struggled to remember what he'd just asked since she was too secretly pleased to find she had an ability to make the tough Prince Inu Youkai blush.
He stared at her, trying to read her expression for a moment before he broke out into a furious snarl. "You IDIOT! I could have killed you!"
Before Kagome could stop him he'd all but thrown himself off her, swiped his clothes and zipped through the door that Sango had left open. Kagome didn't bother sitting up... she felt a little chilly now that Inuyasha's warmth had left her.
It wasn't long after Inuyasha left that Lady Inu arrived with Sango in tow. "Kagome?" Inuyasha's mother hurried towards the bed. "Are you ok? What's all this blood on your kimono?"
"It's... It's Inuyasha's." Kagome said quietly.
"Is everything alright? You look pale." Sango quickly appeared by her side and rubbed her arm. "What happened? How come he didn't kill you? Last night was the full moon, right?"
"What's that got to do with anything?" Kagome frowned slightly, wondering what Sango meant.
"Full moons are when Inuyasha turns... you know..." Lady Inu coughed slightly. "Wilder than usual... it's only a recent thing. He's only done it for the past six months since his father left... usually we just lock him in this room until morning and he's back to normal. Normally... even I can't approach him without being attacked. But he didn't attack you-?"
"Oh - he attacked me..." Kagome said quickly.
"Then how come you're still alive?" Sango asked again.
Kagome was about to answer before suddenly getting up and grabbing her clothes. "Excuse me - I have to go and get cleaned up."
On her way out of the room she bent and scooped up the bandages that Sango had dropped the first time she'd entered. She had a feeling she knew where Inuyasha was heading - and she couldn't let him brood on this. He was mad at her... he had been worried for her. She couldn't let it hang in the air like that - she needed to talk to him soon.
As she scrambled through the corridors of the palace she quickly pulled on her clothes over her night-clothes. She heard a few outraged and horrified gasps from a couple of maids that she passed, but she ignored them as she ran down the stairs towards the palace gates. She'd just finished tying the sash of her kimono as she left the palace grounds and headed towards the old willow tree where she often hung out, with or without Inuyasha. She could see he was already sitting beneath it with his classic anger pose - folded arms and terse expression.
He didn't look up as she arrived and slowed down to rest her hands on her knees to catch her breath. "Morning...!"
Inuyasha didn't even acknowledge her. Except for the fact that he blushed ever so slightly... probably remembering what he'd done as he'd woken up again. It was understandable. So Kagome planned to just not talk about that.
"Um... about last night..." Kagome dropped down to sit beside him, looking at him closely. "Your mom told me the deal with the full moon. Is it true that you turn wild? Are you like a full blooded Youkai?"
He gave no reply, though his brow lowered ever so slightly.
"Do you remember what happened?" she tried, but he continued to ignore her, and even turned his head away. "I came into your room last night and... and you jumped me."
"If I jumped you then you would be dead." He said bluntly, still not looking at her. "You don't look dead to me."
"Well you didn't kill me - obviously!" Kagome smiled and waved a hand with dismissal. "That's because when you pinned me to the bed and were about to beat me to a bloody pulp (insert Inuyasha anger spasms here) I remembered something my grandfather told me when I was younger."
"So?"
"So..." Kagome tapped her fingers against her knee. "He told me to stay away from the rabid dog that lived at the edge of the village - but if I ever bumped into him I had to sing."
Inuyasha finally turned to stare at her incredulously. "Sing?"
"Yeah... apparently the music rhythms in song and music, melodious or lyrical, creates a pattern. Patterns bring chaos to order - and when the dog hears music his rabid mind is calmed and he usually falls asleep or becomes docile. That's why people go insane without music in their lives. Did you know that?"
"Um..." Inuyasha stared at her before narrowing his eyes. "You're not that dumb are you...?"
"Actually... I kinda used up my intelligence limit for the day just then..." Kagome said sheepishly. "But it's true."
"You sang... and I fell asleep?" Inuyasha snorted. "I find that hard to believe."
"Well I'm alive and well, aren't I?" Kagome spread her arms. "I screamed and you froze - so all I had to do was sing the first line of 'An old man and his stick' and you stopped trying to hurt him. Two more lines and you was out like a light... squishing me to the bed."
He continued to stare with disbelief until he turned with another snort of contempt. "I can't believe you were so stupid. You came into my room - EVEN though there was a blatant seal on the door! You all but walked in begging me to attack you!"
"What's your problem? I'm alive - so don't be so angry at me!" Kagome cried.
"I'm not angry at you!" he snapped. "I'm angry at me!"
"It's not your fault!" Kagome defended him. "You can't control yourself like that!"
"Try telling me that in the morning if you hadn't sung that stupid rhyme!" he growled. "No wait - you wouldn't be telling me anything because you'd have been dead!"
Kagome watched him quietly. "You cared about me?"
Inuyasha flinched. "No! I would have been mad if it had been anyone at all - could have been the captain of the guard who walked in on me and I'd still be angry at myself."
"Well..." Kagome fiddled with the hem of her sleeve. "I don't think you would have licked your guard's neck like that..."
She'd only said it to get him to blush. It worked fairly well. She grinned and continued. "Look... it wasn't your fault, I'm ok... so don't beat yourself up over it."
"You don't make any sense so I am going to ignore you know." Inuyasha turned away completely.
"What are you on about?! I make perfect sense!"
He ignored her.
"Hey!" Kagome tapped his shoulder furiously, before tugging his hair. When he didn't respond to that, she pulled his ear... and even that failed. She crawled around to sit in front of him and waved her hand before his face - but he remained staring stoically ahead like she wasn't even there. "Inuyasha... you have a nose bleed."
He didn't buy it, and she scowled at him. Suddenly she carefully wiped a bit of the blood that was trickling down his arm and dabbed on under his nose. "See?"
He still didn't move, or even try to wipe it away.
Kagome sighed to herself. "Fine... if you're gonna be that way, I'm just gonna bandage your arm without your permission."
She crawled around to his side and yanked his arm up and out. Without warning she yanked his thick outer kimono off his shoulder, none-too- gently. She waited for him to hiss in pain or cry like a baby... but he was tougher than she gave him credit for. She worked quietly, making sure she cleaned the wound with a little water from the lake before she applied the bandage. When she was done she pulled Inuyasha's clothes back on and sat back, waiting for him to tell her what a good job she'd done.
Though she must have been getting to know a different Inuyasha if she believed he would praise her.
"You're so grumpy..." she sighed loudly. "I should just push you into the lake... hopefully you'll ignore what I did and just sit on the bottom and drown."
Inuyasha made a strange noise and Kagome looked up suddenly to see him turn his head away quickly so she couldn't see his face. But Kagome was willing to bed he'd made a bad attempt to squash his snigger.
Slowly she crawled around so she faced him again, but by then he'd regained his stern composure and carried on staring straight ahead, as though he'd never snickered in the first place.
When she got no reaction she leaned forward and gently blew on his ear to see if she could make him squirm. His ear twitched ever so slightly, she nearly missed it... but she grinned in smug triumph.
"You know... all this hair must get in your way..." Kagome inched around the back of him and pulled her hair tie loose as she began to run her fingers through his hair. She felt, more than saw, him tense under her ministrations. And purely out of pettiness, she managed to tug his hair back and tied it in a rather feminine ponytail.
She then scrambled around to the front to find him scowling even more so than before, but still working hard to ignore her presence. "There... can barely tell you apart from my grandma..." she prodded his furrowed and scowling forehead. "You even have the lines and wrinkles too."
The corner of his mouth quirked slightly and he held his breath, obviously trying to stop himself from either laughing, or snarling and attacking her. Kagome was willing to bet he was struggling hard not to snigger again.
"I suppose this would be a great time to tell you some news - since I know you won't react." She knelt before him with an earnest expression. "That time in the throne room when I collapsed, I was actually having a vision of when Kikyo died. I think I can see into the past."
He didn't move.
"But don't go asking me about who'll you'll marry or if that maid down in the kitchen really does fancy you because I won't be a fortune teller." Kagome smiled. "Oh - and I accidentally smashed a vase in the throne room and all this ash came out. And when I looked it had a plaque with your grandfather's name on and-"
"You dropped my grandfather?!" Inuyasha yelled suddenly.
Kagome leaned back slightly with a smile. "Just kidding!"
Inuyasha stared at her a moment before turning his head away and ignoring her. Kagome followed his movements so she could see his face. He turned away again, so she followed him again. This kept up for a while before he grabbed her shoulders to hold her still, his expression very strange. "Will you-" He broke off as he began laughing.
Kagome watched him with mild surprise, but with interest. She'd never really heard him laugh before... well... not nicely. He only usually laughed when he was being cynical and sarcastic. Now his laughter seemed rich and real.
"Are you having a seizure?" Kagome asked, eyes wide with disbelief.
"You're great." He grinned as he let go of her shoulders and his laughter subsided. He turned back to face the lake, and so missed the light blush that spread over Kagome's cheeks at his words. "So you can see into the past, huh?"
"I've only done it twice so far..." Kagome pressed a cool hand against her cheek, discreetly trying to get rid of her blush before he saw it.
"What was the other time."
"Well the first time was in the throne room with you. There was a flash and then everything turned black and white and I was watching Kikyo blow herself up. The second time was the day before yesterday - I was walking down the corridor when I had another flash and everything was grey again, and I saw a little hanyou boy running away from a little girl... I think you and Sango were playing tag."
Inuyasha blinked at her in surprise. "We weren't playing tag... she was chasing me with that bone boomerang..."
"Then it flashed again and I was back in the present, and you both had vanished from the corridor." Kagome turned a smile on him.
"So... you can see things that have happened when you visit the places they happened?" Inuyasha frowned, looking slightly worried.
"Well, not by my own will. Don't look so horrified."
"Ok - so stay away from the storage rooms on the second floor." He said evenly.
"Why?"
"So anyway," he coughed loudly. "What made you go in my room last night to almost get killed."
"Curiosity..." Kagome said slowly. And a bit of jealousy but she wasn't going to admit that.
"Uh huh." He didn't sound convinced and turned away. "I've been thinking..."
"A dangerous occupation."
"I know." He looked hard at the lake. "Tessaiga is a seal for demon blood... it protects human blood... it protects humans..."
Kagome watched him carefully, trying to see where he was going with this.
"After what you said the other day about what would happen if Sesshomaru attacked... I thought about learning to master the sword." He said quietly, while Kagome's hopes soared for him. "And after what happened last night... I KNOW I have to master it in case I lose control again..."
"Will the sword seal your demon blood?"
Inuyasha glanced at her. She was quick... so maybe she wasn't as thick as she believed. "Yeah."
"You'd do that for me?" Kagome asked gently, touched.
"Not just for you." He said sharply. "For everyone else too."
"Does this mean you'll take the throne now?"
Inuyasha paused before shaking his head. Kagome sighed... but at least it was a start. Without thinking she suddenly leaned over and kissed him briefly on the cheek. "Thank you, ya highness."
She got up and headed back towards the palace, planning to go for a walk later when the temperature rose a little towards midday. Inuyasha stayed stock still, not watching her leave since all his attention was focused on his cheek... and thinking about how soft her lips were.
Just as soft as her neck had been.
^_^
"I'd get a lovely grandchild, wouldn't you think?" Lady Inu cooed as Sango tied her obi at the back.
"Would they have black hair or white hair?" Sango asked as she finished up.
Lady Inu looked thoughtful. "Hm... they better have more than one - that way they'll get at least one with white hair and one with black. But if they have all white hair then they'll have to keep trying for that child with the black hair."
"They'd make a beautiful couple." Sango sighed dreamily. "I can't wait for the wedding..."
"We'd have to have it down by the lakes. Under that tree that they love to sit under!" Lady Inu clapped her hands in delight. "That's just where me and Lord Inu married!"
"It's a shame he won't be here to see his son marry off to a beautiful girl..."
"Yes..." Lady Inu sighed. "When he heard Inuyasha was marrying Kikyo he got mad though... threatened to disown the poor boy."
"I know... I was there..." Sango moved to stand before Lady Inu and adjusted the Queen's clothing.
"Stupid man barely restrained himself from cheering and giving a toast when the girl kicked the bucket." Lady Inu frowned. "I had to continually pinch him in Inuyasha's presence to stop him from doing just that..."
Sango chuckled slightly. "I know... I remember a time when-"
She broke off as a loud urgent knock sounded on the door. Lady Inu gestured for Sango to open it, and the girl padded across the bedroom to slide the door back. Two advisors stood there looking anxious.
"Milady!" they spoke directly to Lady Inu. "We've just received word from the sentries on the South coast!"
"And?"
"They say an army of wolf Youkai are approaching in boats - it's an invasion!"
Lady Inu burst into action. "Holy Hari! You - tell the Prince what is happening - and you - give word to the soldiers to ready themselves on the southern cliffs. We'll be ready."
Sango bit her lip. Lady Inu sounded confident... but in truth, they would never be ready in a hundred years.
AN: Next chapter 'Jealousy Bites'
Guess who's turning up... ¬_¬ Begins with K and it ain't Kikyo. (Has anyone noticed how many names begin with K in this series? Kagura, Kouga, Kikyo, Kagome, Kohaku, Kanna... uh... I'm sure there are more I've forgotten...)
Soul Exchange
Wake Up
She didn't dare move... barely allowed herself to breathe in case she stirred him again. He'd fallen asleep... but she wasn't sure how long that would last until he woke up again.
But then again... if she stiffened up too much then he would stir slightly... so she had to force herself to relax and breathe as calmly as possible under the circumstances.
Kagome just knew he would be furious, if or when he returned back to normal. She'd already planned her line of defence - ready to recall statistics and perfect excuses if he got mad at her later. Not that any of this was her fault... if anything she should be mad at him.
But it was hard to be mad at someone who slept so soundly and as peacefully as Inuyasha. Granted... she couldn't actually see his face since he had it securely tucked in the crook of her neck and shoulder. But judging by the rest of him, she gathered he slept like a baby.
He stirred again, and Kagome tried to control her breathing as he mumbled something against the sensitive skin of her neck, his lips tickling her. She had to refrain from laughing since that was certain to wake him up. She was half looking forward to him waking up and getting off her... but the other half wanted him to stay like this with her... and not because she was scared of what he would say when he woke up.
Inuyasha's arms rested slightly on either side of her torso, while the rest of his body was slumped completely against hers. Kagome would have pushed him off long ago... but he was VERY heavy. No normal person could be so heavy... but then again Inuyasha wasn't exactly what she'd call normal. At some point during the night she'd squirmed enough to allow her legs to move... causing Inuyasha to fall between them - making a very compromising position. If anyone came in on them like they were right then, then Kagome surely would have died from embarrassment-
Just then someone came in on them. Sango to be more exact. Kagome snapped her head round to the door just in time to see the servant girl drop her silver tray onto the floor with a loud crash. Surprisingly, it didn't rouse Inuyasha much.
"What... what have you done...?" Sango whispered in shock. "You're alive - are you ok? What are you doing in here?"
"What does it look like I'm doing in here?" Kagome whispered urgently. "Please Sango - could you just help me get him off me before he wakes up and realises-"
Sango suddenly shot off out of the room. "Lady Inu! You were right! They were at it like bunnies all night!"
"Oh dear..." Kagome whispered and felt her face heating up. She'd have to clear up that misunderstanding quickly before Inuyasha woke up...
All the noise Sango had made must have suddenly just reached Inuyasha's brain, and he began to stir seriously as he began to wake up. Kagome closed her eyes and starting muttering little prayers under her breath, pleading with any gods that Inuyasha was back to normal, and that he wouldn't rip her throat out in a few seconds. Inuyasha's hands moved from where they were lightly clutching the bed sheets to gently touch against her shoulders, his cheek nudging her jaw to the side to get better access to nuzzle her throat.
Kagome's heart sped up phenomenally.
Out of the blue she felt him place a warm open mouthed kiss to her bare shoulder, and she could feel the light scrape of his fangs over the skin. She just knew he had to have been awake when his leg moved slightly, pushing her thighs further apart.
Kagome's heart was no longer just a fast beat - it was racing so fast it seemed like it was just one long beat... that couldn't be healthy... no doubt Inuyasha could feel it too. She almost felt blessed relief when he stopped doing those small sensual things to press his forehead against her shoulder and give a big bone-cracking yawn.
Suddenly he stopped moving completely and Kagome wondered if he'd gone to sleep again. But that hope was suddenly dashed when he lifted his upper half off her so fast it was a wonder he didn't get whiplash.
"Kagome?"
"Inuyasha?" She was glad to see his clear golden eyes again and his stripe free face.
"What are you doing in my bed?" his eyes darted between them and he suddenly turned a little red as he realised their position, remembering what he'd just been doing to her. Poor boy had probably been half asleep.
"You..." Kagome struggled to remember what he'd just asked since she was too secretly pleased to find she had an ability to make the tough Prince Inu Youkai blush.
He stared at her, trying to read her expression for a moment before he broke out into a furious snarl. "You IDIOT! I could have killed you!"
Before Kagome could stop him he'd all but thrown himself off her, swiped his clothes and zipped through the door that Sango had left open. Kagome didn't bother sitting up... she felt a little chilly now that Inuyasha's warmth had left her.
It wasn't long after Inuyasha left that Lady Inu arrived with Sango in tow. "Kagome?" Inuyasha's mother hurried towards the bed. "Are you ok? What's all this blood on your kimono?"
"It's... It's Inuyasha's." Kagome said quietly.
"Is everything alright? You look pale." Sango quickly appeared by her side and rubbed her arm. "What happened? How come he didn't kill you? Last night was the full moon, right?"
"What's that got to do with anything?" Kagome frowned slightly, wondering what Sango meant.
"Full moons are when Inuyasha turns... you know..." Lady Inu coughed slightly. "Wilder than usual... it's only a recent thing. He's only done it for the past six months since his father left... usually we just lock him in this room until morning and he's back to normal. Normally... even I can't approach him without being attacked. But he didn't attack you-?"
"Oh - he attacked me..." Kagome said quickly.
"Then how come you're still alive?" Sango asked again.
Kagome was about to answer before suddenly getting up and grabbing her clothes. "Excuse me - I have to go and get cleaned up."
On her way out of the room she bent and scooped up the bandages that Sango had dropped the first time she'd entered. She had a feeling she knew where Inuyasha was heading - and she couldn't let him brood on this. He was mad at her... he had been worried for her. She couldn't let it hang in the air like that - she needed to talk to him soon.
As she scrambled through the corridors of the palace she quickly pulled on her clothes over her night-clothes. She heard a few outraged and horrified gasps from a couple of maids that she passed, but she ignored them as she ran down the stairs towards the palace gates. She'd just finished tying the sash of her kimono as she left the palace grounds and headed towards the old willow tree where she often hung out, with or without Inuyasha. She could see he was already sitting beneath it with his classic anger pose - folded arms and terse expression.
He didn't look up as she arrived and slowed down to rest her hands on her knees to catch her breath. "Morning...!"
Inuyasha didn't even acknowledge her. Except for the fact that he blushed ever so slightly... probably remembering what he'd done as he'd woken up again. It was understandable. So Kagome planned to just not talk about that.
"Um... about last night..." Kagome dropped down to sit beside him, looking at him closely. "Your mom told me the deal with the full moon. Is it true that you turn wild? Are you like a full blooded Youkai?"
He gave no reply, though his brow lowered ever so slightly.
"Do you remember what happened?" she tried, but he continued to ignore her, and even turned his head away. "I came into your room last night and... and you jumped me."
"If I jumped you then you would be dead." He said bluntly, still not looking at her. "You don't look dead to me."
"Well you didn't kill me - obviously!" Kagome smiled and waved a hand with dismissal. "That's because when you pinned me to the bed and were about to beat me to a bloody pulp (insert Inuyasha anger spasms here) I remembered something my grandfather told me when I was younger."
"So?"
"So..." Kagome tapped her fingers against her knee. "He told me to stay away from the rabid dog that lived at the edge of the village - but if I ever bumped into him I had to sing."
Inuyasha finally turned to stare at her incredulously. "Sing?"
"Yeah... apparently the music rhythms in song and music, melodious or lyrical, creates a pattern. Patterns bring chaos to order - and when the dog hears music his rabid mind is calmed and he usually falls asleep or becomes docile. That's why people go insane without music in their lives. Did you know that?"
"Um..." Inuyasha stared at her before narrowing his eyes. "You're not that dumb are you...?"
"Actually... I kinda used up my intelligence limit for the day just then..." Kagome said sheepishly. "But it's true."
"You sang... and I fell asleep?" Inuyasha snorted. "I find that hard to believe."
"Well I'm alive and well, aren't I?" Kagome spread her arms. "I screamed and you froze - so all I had to do was sing the first line of 'An old man and his stick' and you stopped trying to hurt him. Two more lines and you was out like a light... squishing me to the bed."
He continued to stare with disbelief until he turned with another snort of contempt. "I can't believe you were so stupid. You came into my room - EVEN though there was a blatant seal on the door! You all but walked in begging me to attack you!"
"What's your problem? I'm alive - so don't be so angry at me!" Kagome cried.
"I'm not angry at you!" he snapped. "I'm angry at me!"
"It's not your fault!" Kagome defended him. "You can't control yourself like that!"
"Try telling me that in the morning if you hadn't sung that stupid rhyme!" he growled. "No wait - you wouldn't be telling me anything because you'd have been dead!"
Kagome watched him quietly. "You cared about me?"
Inuyasha flinched. "No! I would have been mad if it had been anyone at all - could have been the captain of the guard who walked in on me and I'd still be angry at myself."
"Well..." Kagome fiddled with the hem of her sleeve. "I don't think you would have licked your guard's neck like that..."
She'd only said it to get him to blush. It worked fairly well. She grinned and continued. "Look... it wasn't your fault, I'm ok... so don't beat yourself up over it."
"You don't make any sense so I am going to ignore you know." Inuyasha turned away completely.
"What are you on about?! I make perfect sense!"
He ignored her.
"Hey!" Kagome tapped his shoulder furiously, before tugging his hair. When he didn't respond to that, she pulled his ear... and even that failed. She crawled around to sit in front of him and waved her hand before his face - but he remained staring stoically ahead like she wasn't even there. "Inuyasha... you have a nose bleed."
He didn't buy it, and she scowled at him. Suddenly she carefully wiped a bit of the blood that was trickling down his arm and dabbed on under his nose. "See?"
He still didn't move, or even try to wipe it away.
Kagome sighed to herself. "Fine... if you're gonna be that way, I'm just gonna bandage your arm without your permission."
She crawled around to his side and yanked his arm up and out. Without warning she yanked his thick outer kimono off his shoulder, none-too- gently. She waited for him to hiss in pain or cry like a baby... but he was tougher than she gave him credit for. She worked quietly, making sure she cleaned the wound with a little water from the lake before she applied the bandage. When she was done she pulled Inuyasha's clothes back on and sat back, waiting for him to tell her what a good job she'd done.
Though she must have been getting to know a different Inuyasha if she believed he would praise her.
"You're so grumpy..." she sighed loudly. "I should just push you into the lake... hopefully you'll ignore what I did and just sit on the bottom and drown."
Inuyasha made a strange noise and Kagome looked up suddenly to see him turn his head away quickly so she couldn't see his face. But Kagome was willing to bed he'd made a bad attempt to squash his snigger.
Slowly she crawled around so she faced him again, but by then he'd regained his stern composure and carried on staring straight ahead, as though he'd never snickered in the first place.
When she got no reaction she leaned forward and gently blew on his ear to see if she could make him squirm. His ear twitched ever so slightly, she nearly missed it... but she grinned in smug triumph.
"You know... all this hair must get in your way..." Kagome inched around the back of him and pulled her hair tie loose as she began to run her fingers through his hair. She felt, more than saw, him tense under her ministrations. And purely out of pettiness, she managed to tug his hair back and tied it in a rather feminine ponytail.
She then scrambled around to the front to find him scowling even more so than before, but still working hard to ignore her presence. "There... can barely tell you apart from my grandma..." she prodded his furrowed and scowling forehead. "You even have the lines and wrinkles too."
The corner of his mouth quirked slightly and he held his breath, obviously trying to stop himself from either laughing, or snarling and attacking her. Kagome was willing to bet he was struggling hard not to snigger again.
"I suppose this would be a great time to tell you some news - since I know you won't react." She knelt before him with an earnest expression. "That time in the throne room when I collapsed, I was actually having a vision of when Kikyo died. I think I can see into the past."
He didn't move.
"But don't go asking me about who'll you'll marry or if that maid down in the kitchen really does fancy you because I won't be a fortune teller." Kagome smiled. "Oh - and I accidentally smashed a vase in the throne room and all this ash came out. And when I looked it had a plaque with your grandfather's name on and-"
"You dropped my grandfather?!" Inuyasha yelled suddenly.
Kagome leaned back slightly with a smile. "Just kidding!"
Inuyasha stared at her a moment before turning his head away and ignoring her. Kagome followed his movements so she could see his face. He turned away again, so she followed him again. This kept up for a while before he grabbed her shoulders to hold her still, his expression very strange. "Will you-" He broke off as he began laughing.
Kagome watched him with mild surprise, but with interest. She'd never really heard him laugh before... well... not nicely. He only usually laughed when he was being cynical and sarcastic. Now his laughter seemed rich and real.
"Are you having a seizure?" Kagome asked, eyes wide with disbelief.
"You're great." He grinned as he let go of her shoulders and his laughter subsided. He turned back to face the lake, and so missed the light blush that spread over Kagome's cheeks at his words. "So you can see into the past, huh?"
"I've only done it twice so far..." Kagome pressed a cool hand against her cheek, discreetly trying to get rid of her blush before he saw it.
"What was the other time."
"Well the first time was in the throne room with you. There was a flash and then everything turned black and white and I was watching Kikyo blow herself up. The second time was the day before yesterday - I was walking down the corridor when I had another flash and everything was grey again, and I saw a little hanyou boy running away from a little girl... I think you and Sango were playing tag."
Inuyasha blinked at her in surprise. "We weren't playing tag... she was chasing me with that bone boomerang..."
"Then it flashed again and I was back in the present, and you both had vanished from the corridor." Kagome turned a smile on him.
"So... you can see things that have happened when you visit the places they happened?" Inuyasha frowned, looking slightly worried.
"Well, not by my own will. Don't look so horrified."
"Ok - so stay away from the storage rooms on the second floor." He said evenly.
"Why?"
"So anyway," he coughed loudly. "What made you go in my room last night to almost get killed."
"Curiosity..." Kagome said slowly. And a bit of jealousy but she wasn't going to admit that.
"Uh huh." He didn't sound convinced and turned away. "I've been thinking..."
"A dangerous occupation."
"I know." He looked hard at the lake. "Tessaiga is a seal for demon blood... it protects human blood... it protects humans..."
Kagome watched him carefully, trying to see where he was going with this.
"After what you said the other day about what would happen if Sesshomaru attacked... I thought about learning to master the sword." He said quietly, while Kagome's hopes soared for him. "And after what happened last night... I KNOW I have to master it in case I lose control again..."
"Will the sword seal your demon blood?"
Inuyasha glanced at her. She was quick... so maybe she wasn't as thick as she believed. "Yeah."
"You'd do that for me?" Kagome asked gently, touched.
"Not just for you." He said sharply. "For everyone else too."
"Does this mean you'll take the throne now?"
Inuyasha paused before shaking his head. Kagome sighed... but at least it was a start. Without thinking she suddenly leaned over and kissed him briefly on the cheek. "Thank you, ya highness."
She got up and headed back towards the palace, planning to go for a walk later when the temperature rose a little towards midday. Inuyasha stayed stock still, not watching her leave since all his attention was focused on his cheek... and thinking about how soft her lips were.
Just as soft as her neck had been.
^_^
"I'd get a lovely grandchild, wouldn't you think?" Lady Inu cooed as Sango tied her obi at the back.
"Would they have black hair or white hair?" Sango asked as she finished up.
Lady Inu looked thoughtful. "Hm... they better have more than one - that way they'll get at least one with white hair and one with black. But if they have all white hair then they'll have to keep trying for that child with the black hair."
"They'd make a beautiful couple." Sango sighed dreamily. "I can't wait for the wedding..."
"We'd have to have it down by the lakes. Under that tree that they love to sit under!" Lady Inu clapped her hands in delight. "That's just where me and Lord Inu married!"
"It's a shame he won't be here to see his son marry off to a beautiful girl..."
"Yes..." Lady Inu sighed. "When he heard Inuyasha was marrying Kikyo he got mad though... threatened to disown the poor boy."
"I know... I was there..." Sango moved to stand before Lady Inu and adjusted the Queen's clothing.
"Stupid man barely restrained himself from cheering and giving a toast when the girl kicked the bucket." Lady Inu frowned. "I had to continually pinch him in Inuyasha's presence to stop him from doing just that..."
Sango chuckled slightly. "I know... I remember a time when-"
She broke off as a loud urgent knock sounded on the door. Lady Inu gestured for Sango to open it, and the girl padded across the bedroom to slide the door back. Two advisors stood there looking anxious.
"Milady!" they spoke directly to Lady Inu. "We've just received word from the sentries on the South coast!"
"And?"
"They say an army of wolf Youkai are approaching in boats - it's an invasion!"
Lady Inu burst into action. "Holy Hari! You - tell the Prince what is happening - and you - give word to the soldiers to ready themselves on the southern cliffs. We'll be ready."
Sango bit her lip. Lady Inu sounded confident... but in truth, they would never be ready in a hundred years.
AN: Next chapter 'Jealousy Bites'
Guess who's turning up... ¬_¬ Begins with K and it ain't Kikyo. (Has anyone noticed how many names begin with K in this series? Kagura, Kouga, Kikyo, Kagome, Kohaku, Kanna... uh... I'm sure there are more I've forgotten...)