InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Waiting on a Wish ❯ Chapter 19 ( Chapter 19 )

Chapter 19

Through a fog of nothingness, she sensed a firm presence and smooth movement. She felt the breath in her body as it waxed and waned evenly in her lungs and, distantly, she wondered why she felt so heavy. A bone-deep lethargy kept her plastered against something solid and firm, and a comforting warmth radiated through her body -- her breasts, her tummy, her thighs. Noises seeped into her brain in gradual, increasing increments: the faint, easy fall of footsteps, the even fainter rustle of clothes, voices murmuring in the background. Familiar voices?

“….should tell her.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. No one has to know anything.” A harsh, rumbling vibration from the second voice. A soothing, familiar scent. “I’ll protect her.” The burn of hot hands gripping her bare thighs, holding them up. A faint breeze stirring the hair against her neck.

A dry, weary sigh. “She cannot avoid knowing. This was merely a sign of things to come. Her power will --”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll protect her.”

“You cannot be with her always, InuYasha.”

InuYasha?

Her lids fluttered, lifted. She stared at a rounded expanse of pale cotton and the ticklish strands of silver brushing against her nose. Hair?

Wait. Was she being carried?

A tense silence. “She wouldn’t believe me even if I did tell her.”

Tell her?

“Perhaps you should tell her and see.”

Curiosity stirred, plucking her a little farther from her dreamlike daze. Tell who what?

“Maybe you should just mind your own fucking business.”

“Such heartwarming gratitude towards the one who just saved you from being locked away. Tell me, how would you have protected her while sitting within the barriers of an Alliance prison?”

The hands around her thighs tightened, harsh and sudden, and the smooth gait stopped. She blinked, jarred not only by the unexpected actions, but by the soft, nearly inaudible curse that followed them.

“Time to cut the crap, Baba. What do you have to do with all this?”

Amusement. “Oh? Finally decided to ask the questions you should have asked long ago?”

A snort. “Quit with your damn games and tell me what you think you know.”

“I told you once before, InuYasha. I know only what I was told by one more knowledgeable than I.”

Another tense pause. “Damn it. Where is she?”

She? Who is “she”?

“Don’t you understand, InuYasha? Aren’t you carrying Kagome?”

What are they talking about?

Her brows pulled at her forehead and her head gave a slight, involuntary shake; her hands tightened their grip and she pushed her head up from its comfortable rest. The silver-white head beside hers turned. His nose nearly brushed hers, and she found herself staring into amber eyes gone soft and dark with worry.

“Kagome? Feeling better now?”

“InuYasha?” Her mouth felt dry and clumsy, and a fog swirled around in her brain. She swallowed, still trying to get her bearings. Hadn’t he been taking her to work? “What….” Oh. Minister Nakamura. All those cameras. That strange, traveling pain…. She frowned. What, exactly, had that been? She ached from her shoulders all the way to her hips, and all the muscles in her body felt weak and limp, as if she were recovering from a sudden and violent bout of the flu. “What happened?”

“You fainted, child.”

Kagome blinked around InuYasha’s profile at the distinguished older woman in her elegant kimono. “Kaede? What are you doing here?” She glanced around at the vaguely familiar street lined with walled-in houses, her confusion growing as she struggled to place her surroundings. “Where is here?”

“We’re going to the orphanage. The old bat wants to take a look at you.”

She focused back on InuYasha, on his eyes and the anxious lines around them. Nakamura…. All those cameras…. InuYasha, infuriated….

Her eyes widened; in a blaze of panic she straightened from her slump over his shoulder, then winced when her muscles stretched and screamed in protest. “InuYasha, what happened?! All those men went after you when you grabbed Nakamura. I thought they were going to arrest you!”

A dark frown furrowed a few lines between his brows. “They tried.”

“But --”

“Kaede-baba stopped them.”

Kagome blinked.

He made an odd, irritated noise through his nose and started walking again. “Right after you collapsed, she came in and kicked that bastard and all his people out, right in front of everybody.” His mouth quirked slightly, despite his obvious effort to stop it. “I don’t know what else she said to him, but I guess it was good enough to make them forget about me, too, ‘cause they let me go.”

Thank goodness. Kagome deflated with a sigh, letting her muscles go limp against his back. She peeked behind him at Kaede, who had taken up her sedate pace beside them. “I’m sure he didn’t thank you properly, so I’ll do it for him. Thank you so much for helping, Kaede.” He snorted; she ignored him. “I can’t believe how lucky it was that you came when you did.”

Kaede shook her head. “Luck had little to do with it. Dr. Hiraga called to inform me of his unwanted visitor the moment he arrived.” She sent Kagome a sidelong glance. “There was little he could do with Nakamura showing up and taking over the way he did. You shouldn’t hold what happened against him.”

Kagome’s lips turned down and she rested her chin against InuYasha’s shoulder. Her hands fisted against his shirt. “But…. He told them….”

He told them I have power. Why does everyone keep saying that?

“Nakamura had heard rumors before he ever stepped foot inside the clinic, Kagome. All Dr. Hiraga did was answer his questions.”

Kagome gave near-internal start of dismay at that. Rumors about her? She thought that might actually be worse. Her fingers felt chilled, and she twisted them into InuYasha’s shirt, pulling at the warm fabric as she gave an uncertain nod.

InuYasha growled, the sound soft and rolling and pleasant against her chest, despite its obvious displeasure.

Kaede sighed. “You needn’t worry about Nakamura, Kagome. He will not disrupt your work again.” Distinct disapproval narrowed the rims of Kaede’s dark eyes. “My sister never thought or intended for her clinic be used in such political dealings. I will ensure that it does not happen again.”

Beneath her, she felt InuYasha tense. His feet slowed to a stop, and he stood without moving for a very long moment. Kagome studied him, but could only see the lower half of his face from her angled view; his lips took on an oddly grim twist. “Your sister’s clinic?”

He sounded shocked.

Kaede stopped as well. She watched him, a faint curve touching her mouth, but didn’t respond.

Kagome lifted her brows, surprised at his reaction. “Kaede’s older sister Kikyou was the clinic’s founder. Kaede’s been running it, and the Makiguchi group, since her death.”

He made a soft, choked sound, and his voice came out sounding strangled. “Kikyou?”

Kagome frowned, picked her chin up off his shoulder and leaned forward, trying to get a better glimpse of his features. “InuYasha? Are you all right?”

He turned his head away from her, looked to Kaede instead, his voice thready with disbelief and…something else, something underlying and harder to read. Anger? “Kikyou started Kagome’s clinic?”

Kagome shook her head, trying to clear the odd cobwebs slinging fuzzily through her thoughts. What was wrong with him this time? The way he was acting didn’t make any sense.

And why did he say “Kikyou” like that?

Kaede’s smile stretched a little further across her dry face, and she gave them both her back and continued her easy stroll. “My elder sister Kikyou died nearly fifty years ago, InuYasha. But before that, she was quite a successful business woman. It was her acumen that allowed our family name to acquire such wealth. She was always very generous with her money, but after she learned she was dying, she put a large amount of her private investments into building and funding a clinic where anyone who wanted help could find it, regardless of their blood or heritage.”

Kagome glanced from Kaede, to InuYasha, still and silent as stone beneath her, and back to Kaede, trying to figure out why such a taut, hidden undercurrent had suddenly sprouted in the air. She wished she didn’t feel so groggy and weak. It felt like understanding was hanging out in front of her somehow, but she couldn’t quite grasp it. Drawing in a deep breath that put a strain on her aching chest, she dropped her forehead against InuYasha’s shoulder and let it out. Maybe she should walk on her own?

But her actions seemed to jolt InuYasha out of whatever trance he’d been in, because he shifted her gently and started walking again. She couldn’t see clearly from her angle, but she thought he never looked away from Kaede.

Unexpected, quiet, solemn, InuYasha broke the silence. “How did she die, Baba?”

Kaede slanted a narrow glance back at him, her dark eyes unreadable. “Cancer. It was long, but not terribly painful.”

InuYasha flinched. Kagome frowned at him again, but slipped back into sleep before she could form an intelligent thought to question him with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Kagome! Are you all right?!”

Kagome winced and jerked her phone away as the shrill cry reverberated through her ear and into her head. “I’m fine, Sango.”

“We saw you on television! That was terrible! Where is InuYasha? Miroku thought he’d be in jail after attacking that political jackass, but no one in the Alliance seems to know where he is, and he hasn’t been answering his phone.”

Kagome frowned and darted a questioning look across the table at InuYasha, who sat sipping at his tea, one ear cocked toward her and twitching. He’d taken his jacket off as soon as they’d come inside; she had no idea where it was, but she was certain that’s where he’d said his phone was.

He twitched again under her unspoken question and shrugged. “I’ve been ignoring it.”

A sigh sifted past her lips and she rolled her eyes. Feeling weary again, she slumped out across the tabletop and rested her head against her outstretched arm. “InuYasha’s with me. We’re at the orphanage.”

Sango sounded relieved. “At least he wasn’t arrested. They would have turned him over to the Alliance for punishment, and that could have gotten dangerous.” Now that the worry was smoothed over, annoyance filled Sango’s voice. “I can’t believe that disgusting pig touched you, Kagome. He should have known better, with InuYasha huffing over you so protectively like that. It was like he was deliberately provoking him.”

Kagome sat quietly for a moment, watching from her odd angle as InuYasha’s fingers tightened around the cup in his hand. “No, I don’t think that was it. At least, not entirely, anyway.” Nakamura’d had the oddest gleam in his eyes when he’d grabbed her in front of everyone. Something zealous and eager, uncaring of its audience. Just remembering it sent a disquieted shiver over her skin.

“Well, at any rate, I’m glad to hear you’re both all right. And I hope you’re not planning on going back to the clinic any time soon.”

“No. Kaede said that my body needs rest. She’s all but ordered me to take a few days off.” Kagome peeked up at InuYasha, whose scowl had grown obstinate. “And even if she hadn’t, I don’t think InuYasha is going to let me near there for a while.” She felt a vague sense of surprise at how easily she said that, and how easily she accepted it -- as if he had every right to have such a say in her life. It felt so natural, she’d barely even stopped to consider it after she said it.

Sango didn’t seem to find it all that remarkable either. “Good. You two should stay put for a while. Miroku’s held up in some kind of PR meeting, but as soon as he’s free, we’ll go pack some of your things for you.”

She frowned. “What? My things? Why?”

“After what happened this afternoon, you’re going to be the focus of a lot of attention. Miroku thinks you should lay low for a while, until the media finds something else to chew on.” Sango sighed, and the static fuzzed up their connection. “I guess this means it’s a good thing you're already so cozy with InuYasha. No question about where you'll go.”

Kagome’s face went hot and she shot upright, despite the discomforting twinge it sent through her stomach muscles. “Sango!”

“Now’s not the time to be timid or embarrassed, Kagome. What happened at the clinic was more than a public spat. It’s made InuYasha the face of Alliance opposition to the anti-Alliance faction of the government. The nature of his relationship with you is going to be speculated on and investigated pretty closely until things settle. And they probably won’t be able to find InuYasha in that fortress he lives in, but no one will have any problems finding out about you. You can’t go back to your apartment.”

Kagome groaned and rested her forehead against her palm. “You can’t be serious. What about the clinic?”

Sango sounded hesitant. “I’m not sure. I think I heard that Kaede had forbidden the media to come anywhere onto clinic property unless they were in need of medical care, but that probably won’t stop them from staking the place out. We’ll have to figure that out later. Wait a while, okay? Miroku will probably have a good idea.”

Kagome glanced across the table at InuYasha. His scowl had softened, and he was watching her directly now, with an odd, wary glint in his eyes. She eased her body down onto the table again and plopped her chin onto her forearm, still staring at InuYasha. “All right. For now, I understand.”

“Kagome….” Sango's voice came across soft, empathetic. “I know this is a difficult situation for you, but think about it for a while, and I’ll call you back when we get to your place, okay? You can let me know if there’s anything you need. And in the meantime, get some rest. You sound tired.”

“Mm-hmm.”

The click and tone in her ear let her know the call was over, so she flipped her phone closed with one hand, set it gently in the middle of the table between them, and folded both arms to form a more comfortable cushion for her cheek. Her eyes were trained on the doorway now, and she could just see the tip of a furry blond tail peeking around from the hallway; since school had only been a half-day for Shippou, he'd managed to talk Kaede into letting him skip and had been there when Kaede received Dr. Hiraga's call for help. He'd been waiting anxiously for Kaede's return from the clinic. She nearly smiled at the welcome warmth of amusement; apparently, her little fox helper had been very concerned when InuYasha carried her in unconscious, and had been keeping a not-so-subtle eye on her since the moment she’d woken.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yes. I am angry, but I don’t have the energy for it right now.” She let out a heavy sigh, and cast a quick, surreptitious glance up at his still-odd expression. “At least now I understand why you wanted to leave. That guy is a complete jerk.” Seeing the Minister on television hadn't given her anywhere near an idea of the man's unpleasantness in real life.

A growl seeped into his voice. “The stupid bastard shouldn’t have gotten anywhere near you.”

Kagome couldn’t disagree with that. Much as she might hate to admit it, her encounter with Nakamura had left her helpless and drained. She frowned, still baffled over what exactly had happened. She’d been fine, if a little upset; so what exactly had caused her to black out like that? If it had anything to do with eating or sleeping, InuYasha would never let her hear the end of it. She gave a tiny groan at the thought.

“It…. It won’t happen again, okay?” The rustle of shifting clothes. “You’ll be safe with me. Getting past the old witch is harder than breaking into the Alliance.”

“Mm.”

He muttered a sulky curse and his claws started an agitated staccato against the tabletop. “It's not like you'll have to stay with me. You just have to wait until those damn reporters get tired of not getting anything out of you. Then you can go back to your tiny little room and stupid thin walls whenever you want.”

She rolled her eyes, but decided not to expend the effort of lifting her head to look at him. “It’s not staying with you that I have a problem with.”

“It’s not?”
“No.” She paused, thought it over, surprised again. “No, it’s not that at all. It’s that I can’t go back to my job. I like my job, InuYasha. I don’t want to be kept from doing it because of some silly reporters who don’t know how to mind their own business.”

“Oh.” He didn’t seem to have anything to say to that. “Well, you shouldn’t worry about it. Sango’s right. We’ll figure out something.” Some more rustling of clothes, as if he were shifting to look around the room. She could almost hear the clenching muscle in his jaw. “Can’t you just be the doctor here for a while? That way you can keep out of sight and keep training with Kaede without giving up so much.”

“Mm.” It was a possibility, and one that Kaede would probably like, even if Kagome didn’t take well to the prospect of being bullied out of her position at the clinic. The grudging concession in his voice both surprised and pleased her, though. It was obvious he was trying to find a solution that would appeal to her, and the effort caused a warm, comfortable melting deep in her stomach. Drowsiness crawled into her mind and spread out towards her limbs, and the doorway in her line of sight blurred. Her eyelids slipped a little lower; she fought off a yawn.

“Hey, Kagome, did you hear? Are you listening to me? Kagome!”

Her lips twitched, helplessly, as she listened. “You know, I can tell what you look like just from listening to your voice. So I don’t need to see you anymore, I guess.”

“Huh? You’re not making any sense.”

The twitching lips grew into a soft, contented smile and she started to drift a little deeper, just nudging at the edges of sleep. “I mean,” she murmured as her eyelids slipped all the way closed and her mind started to drift, “that I’m understanding you better every day. I’m glad. At first you really confused me.”

He didn't answer, and the silence pulled her away from the dream figures flirting around the edges of her mind. A frown marred her brows and she shifted, considered lifting her head to see what was wrong because she felt blind without the benefit of voice or touch. “InuYasha?”

“W-what?”

Kaome relaxed, the smile returning to her lips with a sleepy, mischievous edge. “See? I can hear you blush.”

“Keh.”

She grinned a little wider, pleased without really understanding why.

“Hey, you’re falling asleep now, aren’t you?”

“Mm.”

“Don’t fall asleep like that; you’ll hurt your neck. Hey, did you hear me? Kagome! At least move to a big chair or something. You like chairs anyway.”

She sighed, he snorted, and that was the last thing she consciously remembered. Unconsciously, she might have some recollection of him gathering her up, carrying her out, and settling her into a set of soft cushions that might just be a couch. Unconsciously, she might have stirred a bit at the feel of his fingers brushing over her hair.

But that was only unconsciously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He waited until she was asleep -- really asleep, not just in some kind of pain-induced unconsciousness. A smile played around her mouth, and a soft, untroubled look had settled over her features before he felt comfortable leaving her on the couch. From his kneeling position near her head, he reached out, and one finger brushed against her arm before he shook himself out and stood.

“Is she really okay?” Shippou had followed them into the room, over to the couch, and plopped himself atop the back of the furnishing, brow furrowed as he watched Kagome sleep. Now he stared at InuYasha with an accusatory air. “You had to carry her inside, and now she smells weird.”

InuYasha scowled at both the volume of the kit’s voice and the insinuation. The fact that Shippou, a kitsune with only a slightly-above-average sense of smell, had picked up on the oddness in Kagome’s scent ever since her fainting spell didn’t help his ire much. “She’ll be fine. I told you I’d protect her, didn’t I?”

Shippou looked unimpressed. “Yeah. So why didn’t you?”

He’d been wondering the same thing ever since they’d arrived at the damn clinic that morning. A muscle clenched in his jaw as he bit back a growl. “Just watch her. I have to talk to Kaede. If something happens, all you have to do is yell. I’ll hear you.”

He went to find the old bat, and wandered around, following his nose until he found her in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

Check that. She was upstairs, in a suite of rooms that resembled an apartment. He didn’t bother to knock or warn as he stepped inside, but drew up short when he saw her sitting in front of a fireplace in what was the first and obviously largest of the rooms. Kaede was kneeling on a pillow, sipping tea and staring thoughtfully up at the large painting that hung over the fireplace. Almost idly, his eyes followed hers.

His throat closed off, and whatever he’d been planning to say flew out of his head. The fire crackled, its gentle blaze of heat and life oblivious to the rest of the world.

Kaede’s cup clunked against the low table as she set it down onto a tray that held a matching pot and porcelain cups. “Kagome is feeling better, I assume?”

He swallowed, then started forward, his feet near silent against the fluffy rugs scattered haphazardly on the wooden floor. “Sleeping again.”

“I see. It’s understandable. Her body needs to recover. The next time will be worse for her.”

Something went cold and tight in his chest. “So you do know what happened today.”

“I do.”

“Then tell me.”

Kaede didn’t look back at him, not even after he reached the lush carpet upon which the chairs and sofa had been arranged to face the fireplace. “Would you like some tea, InuYasha?”

“Tea?” InuYasha’s scowl returned, and he shoved his hands deep into his pockets, wishing he had his sleeves to hide them in. “This isn’t just about Kagome, damn it. I have the others to protect, too.”

Kaede stirred, then turned to face him, slowly. She looked surprised. “The others? There are more?”

“You didn’t know?” He hesitated, eyeing her for a moment while she eyed him back. “You’re one of them.”

A keen glint entered her black eyes. “Is that so? I knew only of Kagome, and that only by hearsay.”

He didn't miss the unspoken question, and a muscle worked in his jaw. “Telling you everything will just get you more involved. Don't you get how dangerous this could be, old woman? You should just let me deal with it.” It was, and always had been, his responsibility.

Her wrinkles shifted into a sly lift. “I'm already far more involved than you suppose – or are you really so foolish as to believe it is only a coincidence that she works under the care of our family, in my sister's clinic?”

The tension had his eyes narrowing into near-slits as he stared her down. She didn't so much as blink while she waited. Finally, he snorted and looked away, and his eyes fell on the life-sized portrait haunting the fireplace mantle. “This morning. Was what happened to Kagome related to her?”

“To her. And to him.”

“To him?” He blinked, and his head whipped around, his brows snapped up in confusion. His gut twisted with that tight, uneasy pressure that told him he knew exactly to whom she was referring, but he needed to make sure anyway.

A faint note of triumph crept into Kaede's dry, even tone. “Naraku.”

And like he'd been expecting since the moment he walked into her rooms, there it was again, that godsdamned pain, ripping through his skull and leaving him sore and stunned within a mere fraction of a second. His scowl returned immediately -- a quick cover, easy, natural -- but this time it was one of reluctant acceptance.

He grit his teeth and plopped his butt down on the plush of the carpet at the other end of the small table. “Fine. I'll talk.” He crossed his arms expectantly. “But you go first.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~

The distant sound of Sango's ring tone snapped Kagome out of a dead sleep just as it was cut off by a garbled growl. She shot to a sitting position, blinking and looking around, not at all surprised to find herself on the couch in a relatively quiet room of the orphanage. High-pitched shrieks and shouts from outside and the background hum of everyday activities told her that the children had already returned from school; the low, heavy beams of sunlight stretching across the floorboards told her that they'd likely been home for a while.

“Kagome? Are you feeling better now?”

She blinked sluggishly and looked down to see Shippou staring up at her from the couch cushion next to her hip, his blue eyes round with concern. Her fingers absently tucked some unkempt strands of hair behind her ear. “Shippou? How long have I been sleeping?”

“For a couple hours. You've haven't really budged at all. We were starting to think that you would be sleeping here tonight.”

“We?” She frowned and ran her fingertips over her temple, then glanced around the room. “Ah! Where is InuYasha? That was my phone just now, right?”

Shippou shrugged and pointed to the hallway, where the garbled mumbling could still be heard filtering from just out of sight.

Kagome sighed. “Why is he answering my phone?”

Another shrug. “Dunno. I think he’s been waiting for it to ring.” A surprisingly mature look of displeasure. “He's worried about something, but he won’t talk about it. All he’s done since he came back down is sit right here on the floor and brood.”

“Down?”

“From talking with Kaede.”

“Oh.” She felt a brow furrow her brows and fervently hoped that InuYasha hadn't decided to discuss her job with Kaede in her absence. She wouldn’t take that kindly at all, and she just didn’t have the energy to be mad at him today. She blinked, disconcerted by that particular truth -- she really didn’t have any energy to spare. Although she’d just spent an afternoon in a dead sleep, that all over ache had only lessened slightly, leaving her still feeling weak and fuzzy.

She frowned and rolled her stiff shoulders, mentally conceding that InuYasha might have had a point this morning when he’d tried to keep her in to rest. It was probably what had knocked her out at such a crucial moment back in the clinic. Either that or he’d just completely wiped her out after she’d tackled him this morning. A fierce pink swept over her face; maybe she should just make sure she didn’t let anything make her late next time. Her pulse kicked up an accelerated pace, and she hastily tucked away those particular memories, wary of the house full of senses-enhanced hanyou who were more than capable of asking uncomfortable questions. Not to mention the one who was hovering outside the room, talking on her phone.

Shippou climbed onto her lap and gave her a suspicious look. “Kagome, are you sure you’re all right?”

The blush went hotter and instead of answering, she scooped him up and shot to her feet. “I’m fine. Let’s just --” Her legs threatened to give the moment she put her weight on them, and she stumbled.

“Kagome!” Shippou scampered out of her arms and onto the floor, pressing his hands against her shins in a futile attempt to steady her.

She gasped and tottered for a moment before regaining her balance. She stood for a moment on bare feet, wiggling her toes, shocked and vaguely embarrassed at how weak she felt. She heard a growl and soft snap come from the doorway, and by the time she looked up, InuYasha was already at her side.

“Kagome!” The dark gold hue of his eyes glared at her, then down at Shippou. “What happened?”

She put a hand on his arm, distantly surprised at how tense it felt through his shirt. “I’m fine. Just a little stumble.” Telling him that her muscles still trembled wouldn’t help anyone, least of all her.

Shippou scampered up InuYasha’s body to hang off a shoulder. “She tried to get up, but she’s still too weak.”

InuYasha’s eyes returned to her, traveling up and down her body, as if measuring her ability to stand on her own.

Kagome rolled her eyes. “I just woke up. It’s normal to be a little uncoordinated.”

A strange expression flashed across his face -- something furious and almost pained. Her eyebrows arched with confusion, but it melted into his trademark scowl before she could read it properly.

Plastic, still warmed from the heat of his hand, pressed into her palm. “Here, take this. They'll probably call back in a second. You can talk to Sango.”

She looked down. “My phone? Why --” Her words strangled off on a gasp as he reached out and swept her feet out from under her. The room shifted, then realigned, and she found herself cradled against his chest. The furious heat returned to her face. “What are you doing?! I can walk on my own! Put me down!”

He put her down. Right back on the couch. She glared up at him.

He didn't so much as flinch as he stood over her. “Stay there. That caretaker lady and the old bat are making dinner, so we'll eat soon.”

Impatience nipped at her. “You mean Mrs. Hashimoto and Kaede? But then I should be helping, not just sitting here.”

“Not when you can't even stand on your own. Keep resting until after you eat.” Inscrutable. Unbending.

Kagome's eyes widened. “What? What makes you think you can just –”

“It's okay, Kagome,” Shippou offered, peaking curiously over InuYasha's left ear. “I heard Kaede tell him that you shouldn't move around much until you feel stronger. InuYasha's just worried.”

“But I don't want to be still any more.” She'd been either sitting or unconscious for most of the day; weak muscles notwithstanding, she had the nagging itch to move. She started to push herself back up.

InuYasha's hand smacked into the cushion near her head. “Do it anyway! If you push yourself, you'll just make it worse!”

She blinked up at him. “InuYasha?” Now he wasn't just inscrutable and unbending. That strange look was back, lurking in his eyes. Concern had her relaxing back into the cushions. “What's wrong?”

“Keh.” He jerked his gaze away and whirled, plopping down on the floor with his back to the couch; Shippou dislodged and bounced on the cushion beside her, his keen eyes watching them both. InuYasha's palm covered the bridge of her foot, a subtle but possessive touch. Kagome was startled to feel a deep tension in his fingers as they wrapped under her arch. “It would be bad if you made it worse, that's all.”

She meant pursued it, but the phone in her hand lit up with a familiar tone, and Sango's weary voice on the other end distracted her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kagom e slammed the door in InuYasha's face before he could follow her inside and listened with supreme satisfaction as his curse bounced back at him. Fitful, fed up near the point of violence, she kicked off her sandals and deposited them into a cubby hole next to the small gathering of his shoes that looked gently used at worst, then swept into his kitchen, searching for something to do – find a few pots to scrub, maybe, or clean out his refrigerator. Anything to work out the frustration of the past few hours.

A breeze pushed at her as the door flew open in her wake and banged against the wall. The thick whump of the duffel containing all the essentials that Sango had packed for her hitting the carpet followed it.

“What the hell was that for!”

“You!” She didn't want to turn around, so she started banging cupboards to fight the urge to throw something at his thick head. “You and your stupid, overbearing macho nonsense! I don't need you hovering over every step I take! Oh, and I am perfectly capable of holding Shippou, or my purse, or whatever else I feel like picking up, and I think I can figure out how much food to eat without your input! It's my stomach! I know when I'm full!” Another cabinet opened and slammed beneath her hands without her even registering the contents, and she whirled to face him. “And the next time you or Miroku has the audacity to tell me I can't even see my own best friend because she's not feeling well, I'm going to find some very obscure, very painful drug with side effects detrimental to sexual performance, and force-feed it to both of you!”

It was that last one that had really done it. All the other stuff she'd been able to shrug off as natural (albeit annoying in the extreme) overreaction to what had happened that morning; but when Miroku had finally shown up (alone) at the orphanage to drop off her things, claiming that Sango had fallen asleep while they'd been in her apartment and he hadn't wanted to wake her, Kagome had officially lost her patience. InuYasha hadn't helped the situation at all by telling her that she couldn't -- couldn't?! -- go over there to check on her. How far did they think that ridiculous logic would carry with her? She was a doctor for heaven's sake!

She had a brief spurt of childish satisfaction seeing him pause at her threat, but it was only a moment. He slammed the door behind him and followed her into the kitchen. “Stupid? Well excuse me for trying to keep you safe, since it's obvious as hell you can't do it on your own. Look at what happened this morning!”

“Safe?!” Her hands balled into a fist and she contemplated thumping at him. “I fainted! People faint all the time for perfectly harmless reasons! It's just been a little hectic recently, that's all.” Never mind all the rogue attacks; she'd been dealing with this infuriating, impossible hanyou who'd shown up out of nowhere to take over her life. Who could blame her for feeling a little askew recently?

“A little hectic?” He crossed his arms, his entire body decidedly unimpressed. “I told you to stay home and sleep. If you'd listened to me, you wouldn't have gotten hurt like that!”

“Hurt?! I passed out in the middle of a stressful situation and slept for most of the day. What part of me was hurt?!” She ignored, for the sake of argument, the memory of the pain spearing and splitting through her body and the remnants of it that still ached if she moved wrong. She hadn't told him, he didn't know, so why bring it up?

The black of his brows narrowed over his eyes, and his voice came out distorted through a ragged growl. “You couldn't even walk by yourself for most of the day, and you were too weak to protect yourself from so much as a bug even if you could!”

She nearly threw up her hands. “Stop being over-dramatic. You're acting as if I nearly died!”

His palm smacked into the countertop of the island, and she jumped at the bang. “Don't say stupid things! You're not going to die!”

Kagome felt herself give a quiet internal check. The breath in her lungs went very still, and she took a mental step back, studied him.

That look, that same look from earlier, the one that had been flitting in and out of his gaze ever since she'd woken from her day-long nap, was back. The usually soft gold of his eyes was hard and yellow; the line of his jaw was rigid and she could almost feel how tightly bunched his shoulder and back muscles were. The hand near his hip opened and closed repeatedly, his claws slicing through the air as if seeking out a hidden enemy.

He looked strung enough to snap, and when she calmed down and looked hard enough, deeply enough, she could see the fear in him, in the arch of his brows and the set of his mouth. If she thought about it, he'd been like that for most of the evening, and she felt an acute pang of dismay that it had taken her so long to notice. The sight of his obvious upset wrapped a band of guilt around her chest, bringing the ache back to a level so near to piercing that she almost winced.

It had been partly her fault too, the trouble this morning. She'd refused to listen to his fussing over her sleeping habits, and then when she'd collapsed, he'd been able to do virtually nothing to help. Inu-hanyou or no, she knew enough about him by now to realize how strong his loyalty ran towards the people he cared for, and how harsh the fallout would be if one of them got hurt right under his nose. Even though it had only been a few weeks, he counted her among his people – had, in fact, done so since almost their first meeting. For whatever reason, he cared that much. The realization warmed her with a soft, internal glow that started low and deep in her belly and spread outward. It met the pain inside her and wrapped around the prickly edges, cushioning the sharpness.

She sucked in a subtle breath and sighed it out. Her hands reached out, smoothing over the fabric of his shirt, trying to ease the hard set of the muscle and skin beneath. “I really worried you today, didn't I?” She murmured, her voice soft and non-threatening. Her hands slid over his chest, up and down. Gentle. Soothing.

Beneath her palms, his body relaxed a fraction. He blinked down at her. “Kagome?” He sounded almost suspicious; from the corner of her eye, she saw his hand stop flexing.

“I'm sorry. I promise to take better care of myself from now on, so that what happened today doesn't happen again.” She lifted her eyes from his chest, trying to impress on him her sincerity. “So you don't have to be so overprotective, okay? I'm fine.”

Her petting didn't have the effect she'd expected. He kissed her.

He trapped her hands with his own and somehow jerked her closer until his mouth connected with hers: hard, fierce, near-bruising. Her lips parted on a gasp, but he took it from her, sucking the breath away and replacing it with his tongue and taste. There was nothing soft or sweet about this kiss; his mouth pressed and demanded, flavored with a faint, hard edge of desperation. It was the first real intimate contact they'd had since that morning, an eternity of chaos ago, and the roughness between them was an affirmation, sating a need she hadn't even realized she'd had. It was a hot melding, all damp insistent caresses and eager responses. Excitement returned in a rush, an electric charge that fluttered against her throat and danced almost erotically with the ache deep in her chest.

She took an instinctive step forward, wanting – needing – more contact. His hands, resting around hers with a touch so feather-light they might almost not have been real, tightened just enough to hold her away. Another try and he forestalled her again. Confusion spiked distractingly through the pleasure of touch, and she breathed out an indignant huff which he absorbed without breaking contact with her mouth. Kagome could feel his heat, a warm promise to a frozen lure, filling the empty space separating their bodies; she wanted to cross that void, to eliminate it and feel the wiry strength of him against the malleability of her softer curves. Frustrated, she scraped her teeth over his tongue, and he growled but maintained his distance. The searing urgency of his mouth against hers told her he wanted to let her, but the rest of him was so carefully restrained, tight with a violent struggle as he tried to bury the want, the clash in him between the extremes of desire and fear.

Fear? Still? Why?

Kagome didn't understand. What had happened in the clinic hadn't been that bad, not enough to justify such an internal conflict. She hated this...this delicacy he treated her with, as if she were made of some fine, rare crystal prone to shattering. It didn't quite feel like him, and he was the only thing she want to feel right now.

A quick tug at her hands, and they slipped easily from his light grip. She twisted her fingers in his shirt and yanked hard, demanding from the rest of his body what she was getting from his mouth. Caught by surprise, he stumbled a step forward until she felt the tantalizing heat of his chest against her forearms. His hands lifted. Hovered. She could feel them right at her shoulders, ready to grab but still hesitating. She pulled her lips away from his and grabbed his face between her palms, made him look at her.

He blinked at her, confusion in his gaze. “What's wrong?”

Kagome searched his face, watching carefully as she spoke. “You tell me. We're closer than this, aren't we?” Her fingers loosened from the wrinkles she'd put in his shirt and she grabbed his hands and set them firmly on her shoulders. “Touch me.”

Shock constricted his pupils to slits and a pleasing flash of lust put a harsh edge to his expression. “You need more time to recover. We shouldn't push it.” He started to pull away.

Her lips pressed together, and her grip on his hands tightened enough to make him glare at her. “I'm not made of porcelain. I won't break.”

A shadow, dark and heavy, joined the desire in his eyes. “Idiot.” His voice slipped out raw, like a whispered curse. “You could.”

A rough, impatient sound burst from her throat and she threw her arms around his neck, and she pulled until her breasts pushed into his chest. Her mouth smashed against his with the same intensity that he'd first given her. The emotions of the day – everything that had been collecting since Nakamura had touched her, knotting up inside, pushing at her, hurting her – all fell away when she channeled it into him. So that's what she did. She focused on him, on the pleasure she got just from touching him, and the deep ache inside lessened until she didn't have to think about it at all anymore.

His lips curled against hers and a growl rumbled into her mouth. His hands caught her hips and had her perched on the edge of the island counter before she even had time to sigh in relief. Her thighs thrummed with heated energy as the bare skin of his palms slid along her flesh, pushing the thick material of her skirt up and up, and forcing her legs apart to accommodate his body as he stepped in between them. And then – finally, finally – full body contact. Hip-to-shoulder her pressed against her, one arm wrapped around the small of her back, his other hand keeping its burning grip curled beneath her thigh.

Time fell away to join the painful knot of emotional congestion, and Kagome melted into him. Her fingers tangled into the thick, silver-white strands of her hair to keep him from straying as the world became composed solely of sensation. It was communication, but of the simplest, most elemental kind: tangled tongues, the warmth of skin, the smell and feel of a familiar body. His teeth nipped at her lips in sharp reprimand – furious, minuscule bites of payback for the worry he'd gone through – only to have his tongue or lips sooth them over, as if he'd changed his mind and regretted being angry. She let him, because with each contact of tooth and damp skin, with each pleasurable caress, the intensity locked inside him spent itself out a little more, the stings growing soft and infrequent. With a general ebb, the core of blind rage inside him evaporated, leaving behind passion, some worry, mostly relief. And she reveled in every intimate, inflaming second of it.

She moaned softly as his mouth slid away from hers to trail a damp path along her jaw until his tongue could swirl against her ear. He carefully swept her hair away from her neck with his fingers, then paused to feel the ripples as the scrape of his claws caused a shudder to travel from her body to his; his nose nudged against the sensitive skin behind her ear, then followed a skimming line downward until he rubbed against her nape. Resting her forehead against his shoulder, Kagome let a sigh slip from a mouth that throbbed with use. Her arms had settled loosely around his shoulders, and she took a small delight in digging her fingers into the warm, shifting muscles beneath his shirt, his heartbeat a steady, comforting echo through her body.

“It's gone.” His mouth moving against her neck, pushing hot breath against her skin; his voice, a soft rumble.

“Hm?” Her eyelids lifted, wandered lazily around the kitchen. “What's gone?”

A small silence. “Nothing.” He lifted his head and stared at her with inscrutable eyes. “How do you feel?”

She blinked up at him. “I told you, I'm fi --” She broke off and her brow wrinkled into a tiny frown. For a few minutes she'd forgotten about it, but that ache still lingered somewhere deep in her chest. It had dulled considerably, but it was still there. The pain was odd to begin with – it didn't fall into the range of normal symptoms for exhaustion. She'd barely noticed it while he was kissing her, but now it had receded into a tight knot that pulsed like background noise inside her body. “Hm.”

The body she'd oh-so-shamelessly wrapped herself around tensed. She blinked again and shook her head at his burgeoning scowl. “No, it's nothing. I'm fine.”

The reassurance didn't improve his disposition. “You should rest more.” Still, he didn't move.

Kagome shook her head and shifted around, dropping the leg she had wrapped around his waist and pushing at him to let her sit properly. He obliged her with a grudging step back, but kept his hands on the counter near her hips. Cheeks flushed, she tugged at the skirt that had somehow become twisted around her hips, revealing the pale blue of her underwear. “I slept for most of the day. I'm not tired.” A glance up told her he was watching the movements of her fingers with interest.

She rolled her eyes. “You could at least have let me see Sango, you know. She's only just recovering from a head trauma, and now Miroku thinks she's getting sick.” Honestly, between InuYasha's hovering and Miroku's unusual agitation that afternoon, she'd been just about to swear off men altogether.

InuYasha's scowl returned, but his voice had a concerned shade to it. “She was at your place. You're not going back there until we're sure it's not being watched. You don't need to worry about Sango. She's strong.”

“But it's not like her to randomly fall asleep like that.”

“Miroku said she was helping him at the Alliance all day. She fell asleep because she's been working too hard instead of taking it easy like she should have after getting all banged up, and you act as if she's dying. Now who's being overprotective, huh?”

She glared at him, eyes shooting blue sparks of temper. “You are not allowed to throw my words back in my face after we have a fight. Besides, you're worried about her too. I can see it in your face.”

He paused for a moment, staring hard down at the countertop beneath his palm, one ear giving a twitch as he thought. He sighed and let his eyes flick back to hers. “Look, I haven't seen her since the last rogue attack, so I can't say how she's doing. But Miroku's not about to let her neglect her health. If he really thought something was wrong with her, he'd have brought her along to see you instead of leaving her to sleep on your couch.”

“Mm.” Kagome bit her lip and glanced away, wondering with an internal spurt of amusement why that was the most sensible thing he'd said or done all day. “I guess you're right.”

InuYasha snorted. “Of course I am.”

He sounded distracted. Kagome turned her head and found him staring at her skirt again, which now covered her, but still lay indecently high on her thighs; his brow was furrowed, his expression distinctly torn. An all-over flush warmed her skin, one part resurgent liquid heat, and one part consternation at his continued reluctance. Her eyes fell on the refrigerator, and she tipped her head, then tossed a considering look over her shoulder at the hallway that lead back to the other rooms. “You don't have any food in here, do you?”

He looked up, glanced around at the kitchen as if just seeing it for the first time, then back at her. Indignation and a slight hint of pink tinged his features. “I do. I have ramen. I'm sure I have ramen.”

She huffed. “I refuse to live off ramen, I don't care how much you like the stuff. I'll just have to go shopping.” A tiny grin nipped at her mouth when she noted his put-out frown. With a sigh, she pushed herself to slide off the counter; he didn't step back to give her room, so when her feet hit the tile, her body was pressed up close against his. His frown eased just a smidge.

Her grin got a little bit bigger, and she picked up his hand and laced their fingers together. “But we just had dinner, so tomorrow's good enough for shopping.” She stepped around him and tugged. “Let's go.”

“Go?” But he didn't resist following her as she pulled him out of the kitchen.

She didn't look back. “To bed.”

“I thought you weren't tired.”

“I'm not. But I am bored now that I don't have to worry about work tomorrow.”

“Oh.”

“Hm.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Yes, I know. Almost two years. I prostrate myself on the ground in penance and mortification. All I can say is I'm a horrible person, and I beg forgiveness. If it helps, I'm currently working on more. (also, I've been working on revising bits and pieces of earlier chapters--a process, may I just say, that sucks seriously disgusting things ^^)

As always, the magnificent Blackberry worked wonders with the mess that I sent her. *cue enthusiastic applause*

Now. Moving right along....

~Quill