Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Golden Gaze ❯ Chapter 10

Golden Gaze

By:

Goijh

Author's note: Gomen gomen gomen! I know that its been a while since I last updated! I didn't mean to make you all wait so long. I just had somethings going on and was a bit busy. But to make up for it: Here is the long awaited *cough.cough.* CHAPTER TEN!

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Chapter Ten

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Deep brown eyes fluttered open, squinting under the assualt of foriegn light.

Moaning at how her body protested movement, the woman tried to sit up. Something was holding her down. Slowly, as if already sure of what she would see and dreading it, the woman turned her head.

The 'something' that was keeping her from rising was firmly attached to her butt.

"Hentai!"

WHACK!

Upon meeting the famed accursed monk that traveled with youkais, taijiyas, and futuristic witches, one would not be surprised to learn that he was not a morning person.

At the outraged shriek of, "Hentai!" Miroku's eyes had opened. The indigo depths had focused just in time to see a large weapon resembling a boomerrang bearing down on them.

Needless to say, the eyes were now closed.

Fuming Sango jumped to her feet, brushing Miroku's hand quickly away as if it were carrying some vulgar disease. The taijiya's face was still red with anger from her rude awakening as she stormed over to start a small fire for breakfast. It was because she was so upset, that she failed to notice the absence of a normally hard to miss member.

Kagome had been huddled inderneath her blanket. Trying to hide from the world and especially from Inuyasha until it was much later in the morning and hunger pulled her from her 'bed'. But upon hearing the threatening whack against someone's skull and the immature stomping of feet, the mediator of the group knew that there would be no more chance of returning to sleep.

With a cheery facade the miko through back her blanket and got to her feet, stumbling over to help Sango with the fire. Though she had no idea why the exterminator had started it in the first place. It wasn't like they had anything to eat.

One look at the swollen lump on the seemingly asleep Miroku;s head though prevented her from questioning Sango's motives. That and the tiny bit of autumn chill in the air made the warmth of the flame quite welcoming.

"Morning Sango." Kagome chirped as she squatted next to the older woman.

Said woman grunted in response and poked the fire she had created violently with a stick. Kagome said nothing else.

The miko leaned back until she thumped ungracefully onto her backside. Stretching out her legs she leaned back, resting her weight on her arms, and stared into the fire.

Anything to get her mind off the incessant tingling in the back of her head.

The sensation in her mind, alerting her to the lurking presence of a jewel shard, informed her that Youko Kurama was still around. Vaguely she found herself wondering why he was, and when he would leave.

Then she found herself hoping that he would never leave.

And that lead to wishing that he would come out of wherever he was hiding and kiss her senseless again.

'NO!' Her mind screamed as Kagome emitted a startled gasp, realizing where her thoughts had lead her. Sango, no longer quite as angry, turned a concerned gaze to the miko. Understanding that the taijiya would want an answer, she wracked her feeble mind for something.

Then a miracle happened- she noticed something.

"Hey Sango? Where's Inuyasha?"

For a moment the older woman did not reply. She continued to stare at the girl in front of her as her mind absorbed the question. Though she was an early riser, her body wasn't quite ready to be awake now. It had required a lot of exertion to hunt Kagome down.

"I don't know." Was Sango's brilliant answer a moment later. Kagome made no remark and instead waited for her to explain. "I don't think he was here when I got up." She offered.

Kagome 'o'ed and nodded, apparently satisfied with the response. Though she was a little worried by that fact that the hanyou wasn't there when she awoke, she was secretly relieved. There had been so much tension between them ever since Youko 'parting gift' that she didn't know if she could handle it this morning.

Still it wasn't like him to not be there. She hoped he wasn't mad.

Kiarara walked over to them from the base of the tree that she had been curled up at, keeping watch. Purring softly she sat down in Sango's lap, in her smaller form, and watched with avid interest as her mistress continued to poke the fire.

No one said anything as they waited for the hanyou to return.

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Youko rested in the tree that he had taken shelter in the night before. His kitsune ears twitched irratibly as he waited there.

And waited...

...and waited.

He had awoken when the hanyou had departed. Cursing the dog demon under his breath he had elected to move closer to the camp site to keep watch until he returned.

'As if you wouldn't have anyway.' His mind taunted.

Youko ignored it.

When the humans had first awakened, there had been a bit of a ruckus involving the attacking of their holy comrade and the starting of pointless fires. Now everything was quiet.

And annoyingly so.

Impatiently, the bandit ran his fingers through his hair, combing out the few tangles that had formed in the the middle of the night. Then he sharpened his claws on the tree in a catlike manner.

Now he was staring at the dying flame of the pointless fire.

He hated to admit it...

...but he was BORED.

The worthless ningens seemed to refuse to communicate. Normally he would be grateful for the golden silence, but under the conditions it was infuriating. They were all silently worrying about the hanyou.

Youko pretended to admire his pointed claws. One ear remained fixed in the direction of the campsite at all times. Except for a couple polite phrases thrown here and there, everything was silent. Didn't the damn humans have anything interesting to talk about?!

"So when do you think Inuyasha will be back?" His head snapped to the east as Kagome's voice reached him. Finally, someone was opening their mouth.

"I don't know." Sango replied in a comforting tone. The reply had only seemed to make Kagome sadder though as her enticing scent wafted through the forest, tickling a certain youkai's nose.

"Oh." Said the miko. Her disappointment was painfully obvious in her tone.

Youko felt the fur on his tale bristling. She was getting all upset over the baka hanyou? And yet she had not mentioned anything about him since the night before!

'Baka. Why would she?' the voice demanded. Youko snarled at it. Ever since he had finally admitted to himself that he found the miko interesting and attractive, the little voice had become twice as much of a nuisance.

But he was right. She had no reason to worry about him. After all, she knew nothing about him with the exception of he was stalking her and had put the moves on her.

But she could sense the jewel shards, and she had deliberately placed one on his person. She knew he was there. And by giving him a shard she had been assuring they would meet again...

Plus he knew that she enjoyed his kiss. He was an expert kisser after all.

"I hope Inuyasha didn't leave because he was mad at me..." The faint sound of her whisper barely reached him as she mumbled to the exterminator. Youko's keen eyes could make out the figure of the taijiya called Sango turning to face the miko.

"Kagome, why would he be angry with you."

Youko could smell salt on the air. He felt a foriegn pull in his chest as he realized Kagome was going to cry. He hated emotions. They made him weak so often.

Yet at the same time he valued them. They could make him strong.

He needed to make up his mind.

"It was just something that happened yesterday." Kagome sniffled, wiping her eyes dry in a valiant effort to keep her tears from falling. Sango embraced the younger woman in a sisterly hug. Even Youko could tell that Kagome didn't want to talk about their kiss and he couldn't help but admire the exterminator for respecting her friends desires.

Though he did feel a little insulted that Kagome was upset that he had kissed her. True it had only been to make the hanyou jealous at first, but now that he knew that he thought of her as more than a passing whim, someone that he desired to return his attraction, it hurt a little to know that she didn't enjoy it.

Well no, scratch that. She had enjoyed it. But she had only enjoyed the kiss itself. Not the fact that it had been with him.

'Damn emotions!'

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The sun was halfway to its peak by the time Inuyasha returned to the camp.

He entered the small clearing with a worried frown, though his disguised it as a scowl. As he had approached he caught the lingering scent of Kagome's tears.

'Damn fox had better not have caused it!' He thought angrily as he walked over to the miko. As soon as she saw him, Kagome jumped up and threw her arms around him with a warm smile.

"Inuyasha! You're back! I was worried about you!"

Inuyasha felt a painful twinge in his chest as he remembered the decision he had come to.

"Feh wench of course I am." He snapped, though there was no threat behind the words. Kagome continued to smile, brushing off his harsh tone and electing to ignore the fact that he hadn't said her name. She could tell that he wasn't angry with her, he was looking her in the eyes. That knowledge alone could keep her happy for the rest of the day.

Inuyasha sniffed the air imperceptibly. He felt a heated glare on his back when Kagome threw her arms around him, but he couldn't detect anyone's presence. It couldn't have been his imagination though. The anger in the glare had been too intense.

Maybe it was that Youko guy.

Inuyasha snorted in digust. He really hated it when youkai could hide their scent. It made him feel weaker. Useless.

He would've liked to kill the kitsune if he hadn't made that resolution earlier.

For Kagome's happiness he would tolerate the fox.

To a point.

Slinging the burden that he had carried from the cave, he dropped it to the ground. He winced a little as he moved his hand in a certain way. Though no longer crushed thanks to his enhanced healing abilities, his knuckles were still sore. Luckliy no one noticed.

Kagome stared down at her bag, a look of pure happiness on her face.

'That was so sweet of Inuyasha to get my bag!' She thought as she clasped her hands in front of her chest. Then without a word she pounced on the overfilled sack and began to rummage savagely through it, hunting for something or another.

Finally she emerged from the now half empty bag. Grinning in victory she displayed her armful of ramen containters. Inuyasha's mouth coudn't help but water.

"Well I don't know about everyone else, but I'm hungry!" She declared shortly before her stomach growled to prove her point.

A chorus of agreement met her 'statement' and Kagome lost no time preparing the food.

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Suuichi felt depressed as he walked to school.

His shoulders slumped forward as he placed one foot frmly in front of the other, only deterring from the set pattern to kick at random pebbles when they presented themselves in his path.

He sighed heavily.

The dreams were really getting to him.

Last night he had experienced the now familiar revelations once again. This time he was back out of the picture, standing on distant sidelines.

Observing.

Watching.

Lonely.

Kurama could still feel the lingering jealousy inside of him as he recalled what he had seen. He had watched through his entire dream, the hanyou with the girl. He had spied the glances they snuck at each other. He had the hidden emotion of love lingering in both their eyes when they watched each other, though they both remained blind to it.

And then, during the dream, he had realized why he got upset and acted like such a fool. He wanted the girl's attention. He wanted to be the subject of those secret glances.

He was attracted to the miko.

Suuichi sighed again in his melancholy state as Sarayashiki High appeared around the corner. He kicked another pebble and watched with feigned interest as it skipped pointlessly down the side walk.

The dreams were becoming more and more realistic for him. He found himself longing to actually partake in them. Not just watch what was happening through another's eyes.

He was now positive that he was realiving Youko's memories. He and his kitsune spirit had conferred on the matter shortly after Hiei had departed the day before. Youko knew of what he spoke, vividly recalling even the smallest details of the dreams.

But he never knew what was going to happen next.

It was almost as if the memories were being created as Suuichi dreamt them.

But for that to happen, time's flow would have had to have been disrupted.

And even then, there was no way that the girl belonged there. Not with her modern uniform.

Kurama's emerald eyes flicked up in surprise when he heard the distant shrill ring of a bell. He was startled to find that he had been standing on the sidewalk corner for almost fifteen minutes, lost in his musing.

Forcing himself to once again continue on his way to school like a good boy would, Suuichi found comfort in releasing another melodramtic sigh.

Now he was late.

'Stupid dreams...'

Great. He was blaming his problems on his dreams now too. Involuntarily he found himself replaying various scenes from his subconcious encounters as he climbed the stone stairs to the front door.

Reaching the top, he paused to massage his temples.

He was definately going crazy.

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The sun was far past its peek when Kagome and the others reached the crest of the hill that overlooked the village where Kaede lived. The brilliant color's of the setting star were just beginning to illuminate the sky, making it shimmer in soft pinks and golds.

The scene was breathtaking as the miko paused to admire it over Inuyasha's forest.

After breakfast, they had resumed in their travels, altering their route to head toward's Kaede's village. Though it had been a bit of an arguement to get Inuyasha to assent, Kagome had finally managed to persuade him to allow her to go home for a couple days. That way she could catch up on some of her school work, spend some time with her family, and of course, most importantly, replenish Inuyasha's ramen stock.

She sighed in bemusement. All she had had to do this time around was mention how there was only enough of the noodles for a few more days. The result had been an instantaneous change in Inuyasha's tune. Instead of calling her a bitch and telling her that there was no way that she was returning to her era when there were jewel shards to collect, his eyes had grown wide and puppy-dog like as he almost begged her leave.

He had even used her name.

It was all in all quite shocking how food really was the way to Inuyasha's heart.

"Oi wench! Are you coming or are you just going to stand there all day?" Said hanyou's gruff demand shattered the calm that had come over the young woman as she gazed over his forest. Jumping a little at the volume of his voice, she was startled to find that the sun had almost completely set now.

"Coming Inuyasha." She replied dociley as she reluctantly turned away from the beautiful view and trudged slowly towards him. Inuyasha averted his eyes so that he would not have to see how beautiful she looked with the dusk's last light playing across her pale skin. He bit his lip in aggravation.

He was determined to keep his vow.

But he never knew that it would be so hard...

Especially not after he had finally admitted to himself his feelings.

'Kagome deserves to be happy...' he murmered to himself. Those five small words did wonders to bring back his resolve.

By the time Kagome reached his side, Inuyasha's uniform scowl was firmly in place and no one would ever know the longing that was in side of him. The miko looked up at him with a gentle smile and he was forced to look away once again as his chest wrenched in guilt.

Confusion flickered across Kagome's face when Inuyasha refused for the second time to meet her eyes. He only ever acted this way when looking at her reminded him of...Kikyo. But she was wearing her school unifrom, not any kind of traditional japanese garb. Unless...

Kagome's eyebrows shot up as her mind jumped to the only other possible conclusion that she could think of.

Unless he had run off to Kikyo again.

The all to familiar ache in her chest fell upon her as she thought of Inuyasha running off to his former love. The reincarnation could never get over how much it hurt to know that she would always be second, if anything, to him.

And it was entirely possible that he had gone off to his former love. That morning he had been absent before any of them had awoken. He hadn't returned until almost noon.

He hadn't looked her in the eye since the night before.

Kagome hung her head, her bangs sheilding her eyes as she followed after Inuyasha's stiff form. She wouldn't let him see the pain in her eyes. She wouldn't make him feel guilty for loving Kikyo. He had known her before Kagome had come along, loved her before her reincarnation was born, and he would always love her.

Kagome was the one who needed to move on.

Inuyasha's ears flattedned against his head. He could smell the sadness radiating off of Kagome. After travelling with her for so long, and knowing her as he did, he knew what she must be thinking.

Betrayed.

Again.

The hanyou longed to turn and tell her that it wasn't so. He wanted to hold her in his arms and comfort her. He yearned to tell her to stay away from the kitsune thief, she was his and he loved her. Anything to make her tears go away, to convince her that he cared.

But he knew that he couldn't.

Kikyo already had his promise.

It was unfair to Kagome to lead her on, only to hurt her much worse in the long run.

Fate never favored a half breed.

Inuyasha tilted his head to steal a peek at her. She was no longer within his line of sight though. He was forced to actually stop and turn around. His superior pace and her downhearted trudging had placed a few yards between them. He was now at the bottom of the hill, rice paddies on either side, while she was only halfway. He could see even from that distance that she was trying to fight back tears. It stabbed him like a knife to know she was upset. The jagged blade twisted in his gut to know that it was his fault.

"Oi Wench. Are you going to just drag your feet or are you actually going to come along?" He shouted, refusing to reveal any of his inner turmoil. Kagome's head lifted, looking at him in surprise. He knew that he shouldn't, but he couldn't help it: He stared her straight in the eye, becoming enthralled in her swirling sapphire depths.

The miko managed a weak smile. Small, but sincere.

"Coming Inuyasha."

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Youko watched the hanyou and the miko walk side by side the rest of the way to the village. His nose wrinkled slightly in disgust as his nose caught whiff of the sweat and filth of humans permeating the air. He normally stayed away from these little villages unless there was something worth while to steal.

Ningens always smelled so awful.

'Kagome doesn't.'

Just one more thing to add to her intrigue.

The fox's golden eyes followed the pair as they travelled along the main path, leading through a cluster of huts. They finally came to a stop in front of one of the slightly larger structures. With his enhanced ability to see with little light, Youko could make out the form of the inu holding aside the blanket for Kagome to enter, before he himself went into the hut.

He growled silently to himself. He didn't like the fact that the hanyou could be see chivalrous.

With stealth and grace envied by the gods themselves, Kurama stole his way down to the village. Had he been any less dignified he would have been forced to hold his nose. As it was, he looked upon it as a sign of strength that he could endure such prolonged exposure to ningens.

His olfactory senses were focused entirely on the miko.

Careful to mask his presence, Youko leapt silently onto the roof of an adjecent hut. There he crouched, almost completely flattened against the shingles, and listened patiently to the conversation inside the building in front of him.

"How did ye fair in thy quest for the shards?" A cracked, elderly voice asked.

"Feh."

"What Inuyasha means to say is that we found a couple." Youko's brow furrowed at the masculine voice. He identified the speaker as the monk from the firecat's back.

"Hmph! A couple is right. That's it! We didn't even have a chance to search for more rumors of the shards because the wench had to go and get herself lost!"

Youko growled. The baka hanyou was going to get himself into a lot of trouble if he continued to insult his Kagome.

'MY Kagome?!' Kurama offered no further mental explanation. Neither denying or confirming the claim. In all honesty, he kind of thought the phrase had a nice ring to it.

"Inuyasha..." Was that Kagome? The voice sounded too sugary sweet... "SIT!"

The ground itself shuddered with the force of the hanyou slamming into the ground. Youko smirked as he recalled just how that word had forced the hanyou to submit the other day. The memory was, needless to say, actually a fond one of his.

It was definately something the kitsune would never forget. (^_______^)

The conversation droned on for a little while longer. The only interesting things that the bandit learned were:

1.There was a kitsune pup who viewed Kagome as his surrogate mother.

2. The monk was a lecher who seemed to have a masochist streak when it came to a certain taijiya. And

3. He really needed to find something better to do then listen to the group's conversations. They were pointless and boring.

The niceties and insults droned on and on. If it weren't for the rock jutting into his hip, Youko would have most likely been asleep hours ago. If it weren't for the dire need to learn more about the Shikon and its current protector, he would have never suffered so in the first place.

Suddenly Kagome emerged from the hut, pushing aside the blanket to light up a patch of inky darkness. Her raven hair blended into the night as she tossed it over her shoulder, looking back into the small house to call out one last goodbye to her friends.

"See ya later everyone. THREE days Inuyasha!"

"Feh."

"Bye Kagome-sama!"

"Bring me some chocolate kaasan? PLEASE?"

The miko laughed as she stepped away. The blanket fell to its former posistion and the doorway was once again enveloped in darkness. Youko watched curiously as Kagome began to walk away, heading towards the forest named after the hanyou.

'She's going to go into the forest at night? Alone?'

Intrigued, and unwilling to let any harm befall her, Kurama jumped from the roof to land softly on the ground. He was just about to take after her when once again, the blanket was pulled aside. Only due to the reflexes from years of stealing was he able to escape notice, seeking shelter behind a nearby cart as light bathed the ground and Inuyasha stepped out.

Looking around quickly Inuyasha sniffed the air. Content that there was no one nearby to see him, he took off towards his forest, trailing closely behind Kagome.

Youko watched on for a moment, even after the inu had disappeared from sight. Slightly perplexed that now he wouldn't be able to confront Kagome as he had been planning to as the hanyou was following her, he ran after them.

It would only be more of a challenge to speak with her alone now.

Kami knows that he loved a challenge.

And maybe as a little bonus, he would get a rematch with the hanyou. He would prove to him that he wasn't just another meek youkai. Round one had gone to the hanyou on a stroke of luck. Round two would only be Youko's.

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Kagome hummed softly under her breath as she walked through the forest. She knew that Inuyasha was following her. He was never very good at hiding and she had caught several glimpses of his red clothing out of the corner of her eye.

She wasn't complaining though. She liked knowing that he was there, watching her, ready to help her if anything should happen. He was like her extra security blanket.

Warm.

Safe.

It was a nice feeling.

But she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she was being watched. Almost against her will she found herself constantly peeking over her shoulder as she continued deeper into the forest. She could sense a jewel shard, but for one reason or another she couldn't pinpoint its location. No doubt Inuyasha had nocticed her unease as well because now she was seeing blurs of red and silver all around as he searched the his domain for the stalker.

'I wonder if its that Youko Kurama?'

A small smile played upon Kagome's face when she finally came upon the small clearing. There in the middle of it, was the small, unstately wooden well. The portal to her home. Unable to contain herself she let out a little squeal of joy and jogged up to it, her almost empty bag bouncing against her back.

She tossed the sack into the well, listening for the satisfied PLOMP that it made as it hit the bottom of the well. When she jumped down, it would go through with her. She smoother her skirt a little as she sat at the edge of the wooden structure and looked around. One pair of amber eyes was fixated on her.

She knew it was Inuyasha, watching to see that she got home okay.

'I wonder if he even knows that his eyes glow?' She thought as she bit back a giggle. Sighing, she scanned the perimeter one more time. Her eyes snapped to the northern edge.

Was it just her or was there a flash of gold there just a second ago.

Kagome bit her cheek to keep from smiling as she hoisted one leg over the side. She hadn't just seen the snippet of gold, she had seen the white silk too. Youko was there too, watching her.

The other leg lifted over the side.

Did the fox know that his eyes glowed as well?

"Bye Inuyasha. Three days!" Kagome called cheerfully before leaping into the well.

Blue light surrounded the box and miko as ancient power pulsed through the night. Before it was gone, Youko's demon ears heard the young woman's voice drift across the air to him.

"Bye Youko Kurama."

He smirked. She had seen him. Just like he had wanted.

Unlike he wanted though, she was not the only one. Youko halted quickly, but fluidly as Inuyasha jumped out in front of him, the demon fang unsheathed and shining in the light of the waxing moon.

"What do you want fox?"

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I know. I know.

I'm evil.

^____________^

But I can't help it.

I LUV cliffhangers! lol!

SO...If you want to know what happens next: REVIEW!

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

please?

~Goijh