InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Bind a Soul ❯ Discoveries Abound ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6- Discoveries Abound

Inuyasha came back to the house a little before sunset. He had been sitting in the God Tree for the last three hours wondering just what the hell he had been doing with Kagome. He never, ever thought he would be in that kind of position with Kagome last week!

It all must be coming from the Blood thingy! Why else would Kagome and I be acting so, so . . . ohh! I don't even know how the hell to describe it! I wouldn't have noticed either if Kagome's mother hadn't chosen that moment to walk into the room. She just had to interrupt too, didn't she?

Wait! What the hell am I talking about? Interrupt? We weren't doing anything.

A little voice spoke in the back of Inuyasha's thoughts. Not anything yet . . .

Ughh! Shut up, shut up, shut up! Think about something else! Anything else! Think Ramen.

And that was how Inuyasha had spent the last three hours. So far he had made up nine songs for Ramen, though each one of them had a verse about Kagome in it.

Cautiously, Inuyasha crept up to the house and peered into the kitchen through the glass.

Inside, Kagome and her mother were going through magazines that had pictures of young women in puffy dresses on the cover.

Maybe Kagome had explained things to her mother? So Inuyasha could go back inside now? Taking a deep breath, Inuyasha walked through the kitchen door.

Kagome looked up when Inuyasha entered. As quickly as possible she collected the wedding magazines and left the room saying she had to pick things up a bit before they could go back through the well.

Ms. Higurashi smiled menacingly. This was her chance to interrogate her future son-in-law. Though he probably wasn't aware of it yet, he would marry Kagome, and he would do it soon. Ms. Higurashi would make sure of it.

Other parents might be a little hesitant for their children to marry young, but Ms. Higurashi had no such qualms. She wanted infants around the house, and the best way for that to happen would be for Kagome to marry Inuyasha. If she were lucky, all of her grandchildren would have Inuyasha's ears! And since Inuyasha was half Inuyoukai, maybe there would be twins born!

Ms. Higurashi loved each and every possibility she thought of. First things first. Before there could be grandchildren, she had to get Inuyasha and Kagome together! And she had to make sure they were both ready. This wasn't completely about her just getting grandchildren. It was also about Kagome's happiness. And Inuyasha's.

Ms. Higurashi had become quite fond of him, and wouldn't mind the least little bit if he came to stay with them permanently. She had come to think of him as a son, and she would do everything she could to make sure Inuyasha would keep on coming back.

"Inuyasha?" she said pleasantly, "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Inuyasha answered carefully, wondering just what she was getting at. "I guess."

"Wonderful!" Ms. Higurashi exclaimed.

Moving behind the confused hanyou, Ms. Higurashi led Inuyasha to the dining area and sat him down next to where Kagome would sit. Making sure to keep an ear out for her daughter, Ms. Higurashi started up a conversation with Inuyasha.

"So, Inuyasha, from what I've heard these last few days have been quite an ordeal for everyone."

"Yeah," he replied slowly. Just what was this woman after? "Everyone has been really worried about Kagome."

"Including you?"

"I guess," he replied gruffly.

Ms. Higurashi sighed. This wasn't getting her anywhere. She had tried to be nice, she really had, but subtlety wasn't working well at all.

"Do you like Kagome?" she said suddenly.

Inuyasha was so not expecting that question. How was he supposed to reply? Should I tell her I can't stand her or that I like her so much I have forever bound Kagome's soul to mine? Maybe I should just go for indifference.

"I guess," Inuyasha repeated his earlier answer.

"I want honesty Inuyasha," Ms. Higurashi replied pleasantly. "I know you like my daughter more than just a little bit, so why don't you tell me how you really feel. If you're lucky I just might help you get her."

Inuyasha was so not expecting that. So she doesn't mind if I like Kagome? Wait, I don't like that weakling human . . . I didn't mean that . . . yes I did. ! Ugh! Feh! Whatever. Just hear Kagome's mom out. She might have some good ideas.

"Help how?" Inuyasha said very slowly and cautiously.

Ms. Higurashi smiled at the opportunity presented before her. Yes, indeed. Inuyasha was going to be a wonderful son-in-law.

^_^

When Kagome entered the dining room, Inuyasha and her mother were in deep conversation. Just what could they be talking about? As soon as they realized she was there, however, they both ended the subject they were talking about and her mom asked Inuyasha how long they would be gone.

"We should be gone a little over a week," Inuyasha answered. "With the shards as scattered as they are, it takes a while to reach them all. If we're lucky, though, there might be more than just one to collect."

Now something is definitely going on, thought Kagome. Inuyasha isn't usually this talkative. What were those two discussing?

"Alright then. Kagome dear, I have some food packed and ready to go. Are you ready to leave?" Ms. Higurashi asked.

"Hai, I'm ready to go."

"Finally," muttered Inuyasha as he stood up and headed for the door.

Giving her mother a peck on the cheek, Kagome said goodbye and raced out the door with her huge backpack dragging behind. When they reached the Well House, Inuyasha shook his head and took the backpack from Kagome without a word. She probably doesn't even need half the stuff in here, Inuyasha contemplated as he picked up Kagome by the waist and jumped into the well.

~_^

When they arrived in Inuyasha's time, the odor of demon was heavy in the air. Inuyasha quickly jumped up the well, still holding Kagome around the waist with one arm, her backpack in the other arm.

Inuyasha scanned their surroundings, searching for signs of destruction or hostility the demon might have caused.

The forest was disturbingly quiet. The sun had begun to set, giving the trees a haunting look. Without saying a word, Inuyasha set Kagome down and placed her behind him where he could protect her from danger.

"Inuyasha, do you sense that?" whispered Kagome.

"Yeah. Say quiet and do what I say. Do you sense a shard?"

"No. Just a demon. A big demon."

Inuyasha nodded to acknowledge he heard her but stayed prone to watch the area for danger. What Inuyasha could decipher from the stench the youkai was giving off, it was large, dangerous, but held no humanoid form. Those kinds of youkai were usually stupid, so Inuyasha was not overly concerned with the difficulty of defeating it.

Kagome had stayed silent as she watched Inuyasha scan the domain. It was just her luck. She hating fighting on an empty stomach, or moreover, hating watching Inuyasha fight on an empty stomach. But maybe having an empty stomach is a good thing? Well, yeah. Usually when Inuyasha fights, things get kind of messy. I like to refrain from vomiting my guts out.

Suddenly, a flock of birds erupted from the canopy of the trees and the youkai emerged from the oncoming shadows of the night.

It was huge. There was really no other way to describe it. It was taller than the God Tree. How was it to hide itself in the forest? It's skin was a dry brown color freckled with ugly black spots. The creature stood on two legs and its arms hung down to its knees. The claws on its hands were a dirty black color, but there was no mistaking how sharp the edges of those claws really were. The youkai's mouth was practically composed of yellow incisors with two large fangs overlapping its thin bottom lip. Its nose was just a slit in brown skin between its mouth and eyes. The eyes were the size of perhaps a human fist, which, on this youkai, was quite small, compared to the rest of its body. The eyes held nothing other than glowing red orbs, completely devoid of anything other than the thirst for blood. Greasy black hair scattered its scalp, but fell no lower than its mouth. The only things that resembled ears on the youkai were the curved horns the protruded from its forehead. In all, it was a very scary and intimidating creature.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked in a very small voice.

"What?" he replied gruffly. All his attention was focused on the youkai before him.

"Be careful."

Inuyasha glanced back at Kagome suddenly, quite surprised by her words. Be careful? Inuyasha had no more time to think about what Kagome had said before the giant youkai sweep out his claws and attempted to cleave them both in half.

The attack narrowly missed the well. Inuyasha had Kagome in his arms and moving her away from the danger. As quickly as he could, he set Kagome down under the foliage of the trees and raced back to fight the youkai that had attacked them.

Inuyasha stood before the creature with Tetsusaiga unsheathed. The youkai was powerful, but he was dumb, and his mass made him slow. As least that was what Inuyasha thought before the youkai started throwing attacks at him. How was something so large able move so quickly?

Before Inuyasha could take the offense, however, the creature was able to strike a blow to Inuyasha's shoulder which set him flying through the truck of a tree, snapping the tree in half, then engraving an Inuyasha shape in the bark of the tree behind. The Inuhanyou was lucky that the blow had only be a portion of a direct hit. If he had caught the brunt of the attack, it might have very well killed him.

Kagome could feel that Inuyasha was nervous, and though he would never admit it, not even to himself, a bit scared. The young miko didn't care a quota at the moment how she was able to feel what Inuyasha was feeling. All she knew was that she had to find some way to help him.

Without realizing it, Kagome's miko energy began to roll off her in waves of pure power. Unconsciously, Kagome urged the power towards Inuyasha.

Inuyasha stood from where he had fallen. He could feel the strength that surrounded him, and he drew it all in. Before the youkai could throw another blow, Inuyasha had lifted Tetsusaiga and used Kaze no Kizu.

Around the youkai, the air roared a deafening sound, and then there was silence.

Inuyasha looked up from his sword to see that the youkai he had been fighting was gone. It had been completely incinerated in the blast.

Releasing a breath of relief, Inuyasha sheathed the untransformed Tetsusaiga and returned to the place he had left Kagome. He felt like his head was never going to stop spinning, and he was probably bruised all over, but he was okay. Whatever had just happened to him back there, it saved him from being battered and possibly killed.

Kagome was no better for wear than Inuyasha. The miko energy she had used had left her exhausted. But she could feel that Inuyasha was okay now, so she had no room for complaint.

"Kagome?" said Inuyasha as he kneeled down beside her.

She had her back braced against the trunk of a tree and her legs stretched out in front of her. "Are you okay?" asked Inuyasha.

He could smell the exhaustion she was emitting. Did that energy blast he absorb come from her?

"I'll be fine," Kagome replied after taking a deep breath. "Just give me a moment to catch my breath."

"This is from The Sharing of Blood," Inuyasha stated as he sat down beside her.

Kagome leaned her head on Inuyasha's shoulder and closed her eyes. A faint smile played on her lips. "I guess you can't call me useless anymore," Kagome chuckled.

Inuyasha looked down at her and smirked at her contentment. "No, I guess I can't call you useless anymore. But there are plenty of other things I can call you."

"Baka."

"Bitch."

They were silent for a moment before Kagome decided to speak again. "Do you think more stuff is going to happen to us?" she asked very quietly.

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha whispered against her hair.

"Like the energy boost I gave you. Do you think that more things will happen because of The Sharing of Blood?"

Inuyasha sighed and placed his arm around her waist. Hugging her tight against him, Inuyasha replied as best he could.

"I think you can count on it."

Kagome shook her head and smiled. "I wonder what'll be next."

Inuyasha smiled at her. "You're too upbeat about this mess."

"Well I think there are some benefits to that Sharing of Blood thingy."

"You're bound to me, Kagome," Inuyasha said very quietly.

Kagome was silent before replying. "Is that a bad thing?"

"You're not upset?" Inuyasha asked surprised.

"Not really," she replied honestly.

"Do you have any idea how much of a mess we're both in?"

"Nope!" Kagome smiled.

"Do you care?"

"Is it life threatening?"

"Not necessarily."

"Then nope!"

Inuyasha sighed before deciding whether or not to tell her about the conclusion he came to only hours ago. "This all means I can't go to hell with Kikyou," he stated.

Kagome froze and looked up at Inuyasha. "Why not?"

"Because of our souls."

"Our souls?"

"Yeah."

"What about them?"

"When I saved your life, I bound your soul to mine."

"Oh." Kagome was quiet for a moment, trying to adjust to all this new information.

How was she supposed to feel about this? She was shocked, that was a definite. Maybe a little excited too. That meant Inuyasha was hers now. Not Kikyou's. Hers. Wait a minute, he's not mine.

Not yet.

Ughh. I don't have the patience to argue with myself at the moment.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked hesitantly.

"Are you upset about that?"

"I . . . no, not really. I wasn't really looking forward to hell."

"Who would?"

Before either one of them could say anything else, though, Sango and Miroku burst through the trees. "There you two are," stated Sango as she came to stand in front of Kagome. "We were worried when we saw that youkai from Kaede's hut. Are you both okay?"

"We're fine," Inuyasha answered.

Miroku looked down at them curiously, but said nothing. Something had happened, and he had a feeling it had to do with The Sharing of Blood. "What happened?" he asked. "I can feel miko purifying energy all over the place, and demon energy as well. It's like the two are intertwined. Would you know anything about it, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha felt Kagome tense beside him. So she didn't want the others to know? He didn't have a problem with that. "I don't know what you're talking about, monk. I think you've had one two many blows to the head."

Kagome had to cut off a laugh, but a giggle did escape and everyone turned to look at her. Kagome could feel Inuyasha's amusement and did her best to put on a straight face. "Gomen," she muttered quietly.

"I think we have had enough action for tonight," said Inuyasha as he stood up and took Kagome in his arms.

Kagome rested her head in the crook of Inuyasha's neck. She could feel herself beginning to fall asleep.

"Could one of you go grab Kagome's bag? I left it by the well," continued Inuyasha as he turned and headed for Kaede's hut.

When the young miko and inuhanyou were out of hearing distance, Sango turned to Miroku and whispered "Something happened."

"Yes. But what is that something?"

Sango was about to answer when she felt a familiar hand on her butt. "Houshi-sama, is it too much to ask you cut this crap out for a least a little while?"

"I can promise nothing."

"I thought so," replied Sango as she punched Miroku unconscious and left to find Kagome's bag.