Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Choice of Roads ❯ Blind Corner ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter Summary: Inuyasha crosses the line between jerk and asshole.

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. I don't own Inuyasha. My mistake- "George" actually owns me.

Warning: Rated R for language and adult situations.

Chapter 6: Blind Corner

*Forget the license number of the bus that hit me- I want to know how they drove a bus on the sidewalk.*

Kagome was having trouble doing her laundry. Her thoughts kept turning on her and making her lose her focus. Most of these thoughts centered on the assassin. She really enjoyed her time with Kenshin. He never seemed to pass any kind of judgment on her decisions, never second-guessed her and always treated her as a respected equal. And they had fun.

Kagome had been becoming more and more drained from Inuyasha's progressively more vicious insults and Miroku's protective, demeaning condescension. Not to mention her headaches from Sango's well meaning, but smothering, pity and the constant demands of her confused and frightened kit. Now she could just laugh at Inuyasha's insults with Kenshin and Kenshin would distract Shippo when she needed a break. The pity had all but stopped and Miroku had mainly returned to his teasing, flirtatious self. Now it didn't have to bother her if Sango and Miroku needed alone time or if Inuyasha went off to go see Kikyou. After their "special" conversation, Kenshin had confessed to wanting a practice sparring partner and she now had plenty to do in her spare time. She and Shippo and Kenshin could spar, tell stories, make daisy chains. The assassin looked particularly good with flowers in his hair.

Strangely though, the more time she spent with Kenshin, the less Inuyasha went to see Kikyou and the more he would show up during their play unexpectedly. It gave Kagome an additional headache, but she had long since given up trying to understand the hanyou. She refused to let the bitterness inside her spread. She had promised to stay with him and she would keep that promise to the very end.

But she didn't want to think about Inuyasha. She wanted to think about Kenshin and teaching him how to cook- something that apparently wasn't required as an assassin. She may have teased him about how silly it was that an apothecary didn't know how to mix ingredients for food, but he had learned surprisingly quickly. Those slender hands that wielded a sword with such skill also efficiently chopped vegetables and stirred pots. Thoughts of his hands made something stir in Kagome that she hastily tried to suppress. It was while she was trying to settle this in her mind that Inuyasha appeared.

"Oi wench, hurry up with your stupid washing."

Kagome was furious. Laundry time had been her long established alone time. It was her time to settle her mind. She had even sent Shippo off to play with Kirara and Kenshin off to get wood so she could have some minutes to herself. Inuyasha had never interrupted her here before. She noticed that Inuyasha seemed very fidgety. He was shifting from foot to foot and playing with the folds of his haori.

"What is it that you want?" She was far too tired to play games.

Inuyasha lifted his head and his eyes were clear and deep and serious.

"Go home, Kagome."

"Excuse me?"

"It's been a year and a half since you've been through the well. Your family must be terrified for your safety. We don't need you here. You get in the way in battle and it's not like we don't know where the shards are now. Naraku's puppets generally find us all on their own. You're a liability to the rest of us and your aura draws youkai to us daily. If you're worried about your pet assassin, he's stayed with us for six months and he's unlikely to run now. God knows what he sees in you, but if you push hard enough he's probably desperate enough to fuck you. Go home for a while, come back, fuck the assassin. I don't want to see your face in camp tonight."

He left then and Kagome sat, frozen, her undershirt slipping through her nerveless fingers into the stream. There had been no normal tone of annoyance in his voice as he insulted her. It had been cold, level, deliberate. She couldn't move, because if she moved she would have shattered into a million pieces. But somehow she was able to collapse when warm arms surrounded her, pushing her face through red hair to the hollow of his shoulder. Apparently the assassin was not only strong enough to destroy demons but strong enough to keep her from shattering within the circle of his arms. She decided that someone that strong deserved to know all of her and she prayed that he would let her see all of him.

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The next chapter's a bit of a doozy, so I'll try to get it edited and posted really soon. And yay! I managed to update FF.net and MediaMiner at the same time! Not that anyone else cares....

/Reviewer Responses/

torrieoreo: Ah yes, the problems with workplace advancement in the Feudal Era. I mean, how many demons do you have to kill to get a promotion? Somehow I don't think making her staff turn red is the answer....

mysterylady_tx: A huge "thank you" for taking the time to review each chapter. I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can, but if I'm really unclear just tell me. As far as I know, "cul-de-sac" literally translates as "bottom/end of the bag" (if someone who speaks French has a more accurate translation, please let me know). In street terms, a cul-de-sac is a circular dead end that allows enough space for a vehicle to turn around and reverse direction. You might be thinking of "coup-de-grace" which used to be the killing blow delivered to a defeated opponent at the end of a sword fight. I'm so happy that you made the comment about Kenshin's personality change, because this was something I wasn't sure was clear in the story. In "A Choice of Roads", Kenshin is sent to the Feudal Era almost immediately after the end of the war. This means that the Rurouni personality from the series has never had a chance to develop. Therefore, what Kagome and the Battousai personality refer to as "Kenshin" is quite different from the personality referred to as "Kenshin" in the series. Um... I hope that that wasn't too confusing.

Somnambulicious: Ah... Ass kicking Kagome is my favorite kind of Kagome. Seriously though, out of all the recurring characters in Inuyasha (and I literally mean all), we probably know the least about Kagome's past. Kind of ironic. Although this is frustrating when watching the series, it leaves holes that an unscrupulous fanfiction writer can utilize to put strange twists on canon. I'm glad that you liked the poor treatment/penance aspect of Kagome. I've always figured that she seems like a girl who would have a bit of a guilt complex. She and Kenshin get to compare notes next chapter.

VB: Wow. Thanks for the compliments for the story. I hope that you do get the chance to write an RK-IY crossover- frankly I'm always curious as to how other people might handle it. I know that I have a really hard time thinking of a realistic way that the entire casts of both Rurouni Kenshin and Inuyasha might interact (non-AU) that doesn't involve coming across a mysterious well.... Think of it as a challenge!