Continuing Tales

Dragon's Prey

A InuYasha Story
by CiraArana

Part 7 of 10

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Second Chances

The rest of the day they walked in tensed silence. The argument between Miroku, Sango and Inu Yasha had went on for a long time, but after it had been reduced to repeating the same insults over and over again Kagome had interfered.

She had sat Inu Yasha to cut his yelling short and be able to tell her friends to let it rest. They obliged her reluctantly, but of course Inu Yasha was miffed for being sat without obvious reason.

Furthermore, he was still angry with Miroku and Sango. Their harsh words had insulted him and only served to make him feel even guiltier. He already felt bad about not ‘helping' Kagome, his best friend, out of this danger. He didn't need Miroku or anybody else scolding him!

He really wanted Kagome to be safe and if there had been any other way out... but there wasn't. And he couldn't... do that. Even though one part of his body signalled him that it wouldn't mind at all! This, thought Inu Yasha, was worst about this situation: his own body lusting after Kagome. Ever since Miroku had mentioned the way out of danger for the girls some part of the hanyou's body had been in constant readiness and he had been having problems to do so much as even look at the girl from the future.

Yet although Inu Yasha wanted Kagome he couldn't... no, not even as her friend. For he wouldn't be able to see her as a friend anymore if he did. Miroku might call this a ‘simple thing' but it was so much more for the hanyou. It was his demon blood in combination with the human nature: if he mated with a girl he liked so much, and wanted so much, he would regard her as his wife and refuse to ever let her go. And he couldn't do that to her, because this meant that she would lose her other life in the future.

Besides, he had still to take his promises to Kikyo into consideration. He had failed her once; he would not do so again!

This he told himself and tried not to listen to the tiny inner voice that called him a bloody stupid idiot.

By the time they made camp, the atmosphere had relaxed a little. Miroku, Sango and Shippo had stopped to glare at the hanyou every minute. They only glared now every other minute. But they didn't say anything more on that matter.

Kagome had cheered up a bit. She had come to the conclusion that Inu Yasha just needed a bit more time - and the growing threat of Koga ‘helping' her out - to come to his senses and... Blushing she had decided to not think about it anymore, but the thought had lightened her mood.

With Kagome cheerful as usual and the others refraining from scolding Inu Yasha, dinner went by in a pleasant air, and Miroku even joked about visiting the village they had come through today in nine months' time.

However, when they had finished eating and cleaning up the monk put on a grave expression again.

"Inu Yasha," he addressed the hanyou. "I beg you to think about the present problem of Kagome-sama's safety."

Inu Yasha scowled.

"Please, try to act like an adult. You know it would make things much easier for us all! We wouldn't have to constantly watch out for a dragon anymore and could resume our shard-hunt. Plus, we really don't need another threat hanging above our heads. Naraku alone suffices!"

Inu Yasha snorted.

Miroku sighed. "Well, if you can't be brought to reason we have to hope somebody else will help us. The only problem is to keep Kagome-sama safe until Koga shows up."

Inu Yasha's eyes narrowed and he growled.

The monk shook his head resignedly. "Or, perhaps, if Koga doesn't show up soon I could offer my help..."

"No you can't!" This forceful exclamation came from Sango, who gave Miroku a fierce look.

"Sango?" Miroku's voice sounded surprised.

"No! Definitely not! You are mine now, and I won't share you! Not even with Kagome-chan!!"

Miroku's jaw dropped and Kagome raised a hand to hide her grin. Sango, who was sitting next to the monk, had leaned forwards and poked his chest with a finger while speaking.

Miroku recovered quickly form his surprise. He smiled brightly at the angry woman by his side.

"No?" he asked innocently.

"No!"

"Ah, if you say so, my lovely Sango..." He closed the distance between their faces and kissed her lightly on her lips. Sango blushed and drew back. Miroku grinned.

Then he took Sango's hand and got up, pulling her with him. He smiled at Kagome. "You excuse us, Kagome-sama?"

Kagome, a slight pink on her cheeks, smiled back and nodded. "Of course, Miroku-sama."

Grinning slightly she watched her friends wander off, hand in hand. It seemed as if this was more than ‘help' and going to be something very... lasting. Her smile turned wistfully. These two were lucky to have found love.

Her eyes turned to Inu Yasha. Well, love that was reciprocated.

Kagome sighed and looked down at her hands. She understood his hesitation. She knew he was thinking of Kikyo and that it was the thought of Kikyo that held him back. But still... it wasn't that she was expecting something from him, anyways! He had made his promise to Kikyo and she had accepted that he would never be more to her than a friend. But still... right now she needed a friend, and she'd rather have him than Koga.

A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of doing things with Koga. No, she didn't want Koga to help her! She would never get rid of him if she allowed this much! Koga would surely not think it a simple chivalry, but the first step of a very close relationship. And she didn't want to have a relationship closer than friendship with Koga at all!

Of course she had wished to give her first time, her virginity, to the man she loved, after they had been in a relationship for some time! What Miroku had suggested was not at all what she would have liked, and she still felt a bit weary about it. Making love to Inu Yasha simply to keep her safe... but if this was the way it had to be then it had to be done this way.

Not that she was averse to.... do it with Inu Yasha! She thought it would be quite nice to... be held in his arms and kiss him and... She blushed and forbade her imagination to go further. What would he do and say if he knew what she was thinking?

Kagome glanced at Inu Yasha through her lashes. He sat to her left, Tessaiga cradled in his arms, staring into the fire. From the scowl on his face she could tell he was not at all happy and she felt a bit sorry for him. It just had always to be her who needed rescue!

Inu Yasha's ears twitched and his expression darkened further. Kagome wondered what he might be thinking as suddenly he blushed and began squirming, his ears flat against his skull.

"Inu Yasha?" she asked worriedly. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

Her worried voice interrupted the game Shippo was playing with Kirara, and they looked all questioningly at the hanyou.

Inu Yasha's blush deepened. He cast Kagome a fleeting glance before he looked back at the fire. "They could've walked away a bit further."

"Oh." Kagome blushed, too. "You... um... can hear them?"

Inu Yasha gave one sharp nod and looked away from her, his ears now twitching violently. Kagome shared his uneasiness and embarrassment. Thinking about what Miroku and Sango where doing was bad enough, but actually hearing it... Poor Inu Yasha!

She cast him another sideway glance. He was very tense, and his flushed face looked somewhat unhealthy. There was a fine sheen of sweat of his brow, and his eyes flickered as if he were in a fever. This couldn't be all embarrassment, could it?

Kagome inched a bit closer to the hanyou. "Inu Yasha," she began tentatively and her friend jumped, whipping his head around to look at her with wide, fiery eyes. "Um... are you okay? You look a bit... put out."

He stared at her for some breathless moments, and Kagome got the impression he was leaning closer to her. But just as she was about to move closer herself, a loud crack sounded behind her and Inu Yasha all but leapt away from her, mumbling he was fine.

Kagome turned to detect the source of the sound, finding Shippo holding a broken twig in his hands. He looked at her apologetically. She smiled at him and turned back to Inu Yasha, but the hanyou had escaped into a nearby tree.

Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. Well, if he was so eager to get away from her she surely had imagined he was about to kiss her earlier! She rubbed her face and, telling herself she wasn't hurt by his behaviour at all, she looked up to where he sat in his tree. He was even tenser now than before, she could tell from the odd way he sat on the branch. His back was as stiff as if he had Miroku's staff thrust inside his clothes.

Kagome blushed madly as her mind pointed out to her the double-entendre of Miroku's staff . Recently she seemed to have problems to think of something else but... the actions involved in her defloration. She blushed some more and chided herself for her thoughts.

Unfortunately, her mind always returned to this topic even if she tried to think about something else. Naraku, for example, or the shards... but that only led her to worry that they hadn't found so much as a rumour about a shard for the last eleven days. The reason for which were of course the dragons. And then her thoughts turned in full circle and she blushed again.

She might as well go home for all the progress they had made during these last two weeks! Which was none at all, and the dragons only made the hunt more difficult, just as Miroku had said. Since their hunt therefore seemed to be on hold, she should go home. It would be nice to see her family again, and her friends - and even go to school for a change.

Kagome looked up again at the branch where Inu Yasha sat. "Um, Inu Yasha?"

The only sign that he had heard her where his even more rigid back, though she had thought it would have been impossible for him to stiffen further.

"Um... I have thought about..." she said carefully, "that the best thing for me might be going home for a while..."

In the blink of an eye he crouched in front of her, glaring at her. "You're not going home before you've found another shard!"

Kagome felt the familiar outrage rising inside of her. "But, Inu Yasha," she tried to explain calmly, "as long as we have to look out for attacking dragons I'm sure we won't find any shards at all! And if... I go home I'm safe and... well, you might be able to... find another way... to..."

Her voice trailed off as Kagome realised how close Inu Yasha was and how intense the look in his eyes was. His breath was slightly erratic as if he had run a long way. Kagome felt her heartbeat speed up. This time there was no imagination! He was about to kiss her!

She leaned closer to him and his eyes widened. He seemed to fight with himself for what to do, but suddenly his eyes narrowed and he glanced over her shoulder, the dark scowl back on his face. Kagome blinked in surprise and turned her head. She blushed when she saw what had caught Inu Yasha's attention.

Shippo and Kirara had stopped playing and were now sitting side by side, watching their friends with huge, interested eyes. ‘As if they are watching a film,' she thought in exasperation.

When they realised they were caught, Shippo sighed. "Come on, Kirara. We'll leave them alone..." Fox and firecat exchanged a glance that clearly said ‘grown-ups are so stupid' and strolled away.

Kagome pressed her hands to her hot cheeks, evading Inu Yasha's eyes. She felt thoroughly embarrassed and only hoped these two wouldn't accidentally come across Miroku and Sango...

Inu Yasha was torn between anger and relief at being interrupted once more, and it took some time until he realised he was alone with Kagome now. He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, inwardly cursing Miroku and Sango. Couldn't they've gone a bit further? He really didn't need to hear this! It only made him think of...

In this moment Kagome looked up at him, her dark eyes huge and sparkling in the light of the fire. Inu Yasha gulped, quickly trying to think of something to say to her. Something that would express his wish for her to stay with him...

"You won't go home until you found another shard," he finally croaked before he jumped back into his tree, the lure of her eyes and sweet scent becoming too strong for his dwindling willpower.

Kagome sighed at his words and abrupt departure. Really, Inu Yasha had a talent to ruin every single romantic moment of her life! And how could he be so cruel and to remind her right now she was only his ‘shard detector'? First he looked at her in a way that made her heart beat so fast she thought he must have heard it and millions of butterflies dance in her stomach, and then he said something so unkind to her!

She grit her teeth and glared at the red shadow, sitting high in the tree. Clenching her fists she inwardly called him every single abusive name she knew of, even the ones where she blushed at thinking them. This did nothing to calm her down, and the thought that he had probably been about to kiss her because she reminded him once again of Kikyo only incensed her further.

Taking several deep breaths she tried to calm herself down. She counted to ten, then to hundred and then backwards to nought. When she reached - 567 she felt reasonably calm again.

Heaving a sigh, she got her textbooks out of her bag. Since Shippo and Kirara had deserted her and Inu Yasha was in no mood to talk to her, she might as well try to revise a bit. Soon she was deeply immersed in some arithmetical problems, and she tried to solve the mysteries of advanced mathematics until her eyelids drooped and she practically fell asleep over her books.

Yawning she shoved them away and crawled into her sleeping bag, too tired to even notice a pair of golden eyes watching her every move.

Dragon's Prey

A InuYasha Story
by CiraArana

Part 7 of 10

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