InuYasha sat still as Kagome draped the familiar scented haori around his shoulders. She carefully moved his hair up before putting it close to his neck, where it sat comfortably. He slid his arms down the wide sleeves, feeling the warmth of the cloth against his bare skin. He always had a haori on underneath, so he wasn't used to feeling it on his bare arms, wearing a modern day t-shirt underneath. Kagome set his hair down, which seemed to have grown a few more inches since earlier that very morning. It hung past his shoulders, but it wasn't anywhere near as close to as long as it used to be. But judging by how it was growing, it would be that long in a matter of weeks…
He blinked when he felt Kagome embrace him from behind, her face against his left shoulder. He didn't see them, but he could smell her tears, as she told him why she took the haori, and apologized for taking his possessions, which she felt should have been burned with the body. He didn't understand why she had to be sorry; He was touched that she kept them, glad in fact. Not because things turned out the way they had, but because she kept part of him close to her. And if she found comfort in them for a time, it was well worth it…though….
He turned his head slightly, to meet her gaze.
"Don't apologize Kagome, please," he said, not trusting his own voice. He too, felt overcome with emotion…after all; they really haven't had time alone, privately, to speak about what had happened.
"I'm still afraid that this is a wonderful dream, and that I'll wake up…and I'll lose you all over again," she whispered, her voice shaking. InuYasha's heart constricted as he heard the pain in her words as she spoke them, as if speaking them would cause her dream to end. Naraku did more than simply kill him. He inflicted a pain on Kagome worse than a thousand deaths. And that is what was unforgivable. Naraku had committed many atrocities, but none angered him more than Kagome's pain, not even…
He turned then in her embrace, until he faced her, and pulled her up against him, to where their hearts beat against each other. His cheek was pressed against hers, and he held her tightly.
"It's not a dream Kagome, I'm here, and I'll never leave you again." he said, with determination. He expected to feel her crying more, but instead, her tears stopped, and she pressed even closer to him. He held her close, both of them wrapped in his Haori.
"Everything will work out, you'll see." he reassured her. He felt himself blush. He had always felt comfortable around her, from the very beginning, but sometimes his emotions got the better of him. And feeling her completely pressed up against him like this caused his mind to wander just a bit…considering their current position clinging to each other…
"There's something else," she said quietly, pulling back a bit. He almost, ALMOST pulled her back against him, but resisted the urge to. She turned, and reached under her bed once more, to pull something else very important to him. He figured she only kept his necklace and haori…
He looked at her before reaching out, and grasping the sheathe gently.
"You protected Tessaiga too," he said quietly. He knew she took it, as a memento, but he knew that she understood how important it was to keep the sword safe. Even if it meant never being wielded again.
"I planned to keep it safe at the shrine until the end of time…but now I don't need to." she said, her face finally lighting up with her customary sweet smile. At one time, the sword meant more to him than anything, being the only thing he had to remember his father by, and the fact that she kept it safe for him, despite his being gone, touched him so deeply…
He set the sword down, momentarily forgotten, in the light of her warm smile. He embraced her again, this time letting his tears flow.
*************************************************
After stocking up on ramen, and various other snacks, they returned to the feudal era. InuYasha still wore his blue jeans and t-shirt, but now he wore his Haori over his t-shirt like a coat, and Tessaiga was tied to one of his belt loops on his jeans. He held Kagome's hand as they walked.
"The air always smells so fresh here, I love it." she said, smiling.
"It's a lot better than the air full of exhaust," he agreed. His ears twitched slightly, as he heard the bushes beside them rustle. The scent of the Kitsune reached him long before his head full of red hair popped out in the hopes of surprising them.
"You're back!" the Kitsune cried, leaping out at them with a jubilant expression. InuYasha expected Kagome to be his target, and was caught off balance when he slammed into him full tilt, and sends him careening backwards. He let out a curse as he fell harshly in his backside. Shippo hugged him, his smile never vanishing.
"Oi! What's your problem?!" he exclaimed.
"I'm so glad you came back! I was afraid you wouldn't!" Shippo carried on.
"We have work to do, of course we were coming back." InuYasha replied. The Kitsune wouldn't let go, so InuYasha held him back to try to encourage him to let him go.
"Geeze Shippo, why are you so worked up?" he asked.
"I heard Miroku and Sango talking last night, they said that once the jewel is finished, you and Kagome can never come back!"
"Well, it's a possibility, but it's also possible that we can come and go as we always have, we just have to wait and see." InuYasha said. The Kitsune looked at him with big eyes.
"Promise you'll take me with you if you go back?" he pleaded. InuYasha felt like a deer caught in the headlights…what could he say? How could he make that promise?
NO one but he and Kagome has ever been able to pass through.
Still…he felt for the little guy, and he was sure he would miss him as much as Shippo would miss them…
"That's a ways off, but yeah, I promise Shippo." he said. The kit smiled, and finally calmed down enough to let him go.
"Gee! Where's my welcome?" Kagome teased, holding up one of Shippo's favorite snacks. Shippo hugged her, and then snagged the bag, before coming to rest on InuYasha's shoulders.
"Is Sango and Miroku with Kaede?" Kagome asked.
"Yeah, they are discussing the recent attacks on the village." Shippo said.
"What recent attacks?" InuYasha asked, looking at Shippo.
"After you guys left, a yokai keeps attacking the village. One by one a villager disappears. No one knows what kind of yokai it is, but Miroku says the aura is very similar to Naraku's," Shippo said. InuYasha's blood began to boil. Naraku wouldn't dare attack this village! This was their home!
He grabbed Kagome's hand and ran for the village.
******************************************************
"Are you serious?! Naraku randomly attacks?" InuYasha exclaimed.
"It appears that he is looking for Kagome. Since he believes you are now dead, he's been tracking her, and declared that one by one he'll slay the villagers until they give her up. They refuse of course, each one of them aware that Naraku is the one responsible for slaying first Kikyo, then you. I don't understand Naraku's tactics though. He can easily slay everyone with one blow, but hasn't done so…" Miroku replied.
"He wants Kagome to go to him….that Bastard!" InuYasha growled.
"And with this new talisman you have that can make you appear human, and hide your youki, Naraku will have no idea that you are here," Sango spoke up. InuYasha glanced at her.
"Am I sensing a trap?"
"For once, we can lay the deception, and defeat Naraku once and for all." Miroku added.
Kagome sighed.
"It's not going to be that easy. He's not going to simply be defeated if we surprise him. We need to get the jewel from him, before he gets his hands on Kohaku…and the last shard. Kikyo's light is still in the jewel, fighting him. I'm sure he wants to use me to completely corrupt the jewel." she answered quietly.
"Forget it. It won't work, and I refuse to use Kagome as bait." InuYasha said.
"We wouldn't need to, you attacking him off guard should be enough to weaken him , and do him some serious damage." Miroku said.
"I'm not going in blindly. I haven't even tried wielding the sword since before I died. Sure, I can touch it, but it doesn't mean I can still use it." InuYasha said.
"I'm sure you can, but if you wield it, Naraku will know if its whereabouts."
"He's going to die, one way or another,"
"Let it be before another innocent village had to die." Kagome spoke up.
"Don't even THINK about it!" he snapped, looking at her carefully. He knew what she was thinking. Whenever an innocent person was in danger, and she thought she was the cause, she wouldn't think twice to put herself in harm's way.
"He thinks that in my sorrow, my powers will be diminished, he's counting on it, and he's in for a nasty surprise. " Kagome said, as if not hearing him.
"You're not going!" he yelled.
"What choice do I have?!" she shot back.
"I'll carry you back through that well, and I'll…tie you to your bed so you can't leave!!" he shot back.
"Like you could make me not come back!" she hollered just as loudly.
"Not if I distract you enough to not want to!" he spoke up without thinking. Her face went red, as red as his was, of course, as both of them got the hidden meaning. She was going to sit him…he could tell by her expression…and he wouldn't blame her, promise or no promise….he didn't mean it the way it sounded…not at first anyways…
"We HAVE to defeat him." she said evenly after a long moment.
"We WILL," he added.
"Did I miss something?" Sango asked.
"Indeed, I'll be delighted to enlighten you," Miroku spoke up.
"I'll be delighted that you won't!" Kagome roared.
************************************************************
"I'm serious, promise me," InuYasha persisted. Kagome was backed up against a wall, literally. Kagome met his gaze. Even long after their argument, he was determined not to let her try to trick Naraku. Yet, after all they went through, if he felt she shouldn't, she wouldn't, no matter how badly, she wanted revenge for what happened.
"I promise," she whispered. InuYasha held her gaze. She often daydreamed of moments like this. She was behind the hut with him, leaning back against the wall. He had a hand on either side of the wall around her, his proximity like wildfire. His nose was barely an inch from hers…
"I'll check the perimeter of the village for any trouble, and I'll keep quiet too. Just keep quiet, and stay with Kaede." he insisted. Kagome realized then how much taller he was now. He was tall before, but he was probably almost as tall as his brother now. And his eyes seemed so much deeper, and his featured more defined. Yet he stayed the same inside.
"Alright, I'll protect Kaede, but if you don't come back soon, I'm coming after you." she said. He held her gaze before nodding slowly.
"I'll be back soon," he said.
"Soon then,"
And with that he leapt off into the darkness, leaving her alone in the shadows. He was always aware of danger, even from a mile away, and it wasn't like he was going off for days on end, or like when he used to go in search of Kikyo…
GAH! Why did she have to go and think about that?!
Her mind wandered. What exactly had he meant earlier when they argued? She was sure he didn't mean what she thought, and that her mind was in the gutter…then again, he was a guy…
Of course it's crossed his mind more than a few times, it had hers.
But right now, her main focus was defeating the bastard that ripped everything from her and left a void that she couldn't seem to fill, despite InuYasha's return to her…
She turned, and made her way back to the front of the hut, and stood by the doorway, waiting. Inside she could hear the others sleeping soundly. She was great full they could get some sleep for the first time in days.
"Ku ku ku…I knew you would eventually resurface," a familiar voice seemed to whisper around her. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She sun around to see the familiar form appear right before her, close enough to reach out and touch.
"To tell you the truth, I half expected you to come after me in the name of revenge." he added. She stood, frozen. This is why InuYasha didn't want her to go…because despite her anger, her fear would overpower it….
"How did it feel to watch him die? To see his blood stain the ground?" he said, trying to make her mad. She stood stock still, her fists clenched. Naraku laughed at her.
"Perhaps I killed him too quickly. I should have let you watch him die slowly, begging for death." he went on. Kagome was too concerned with him right before her to notice the tentacles until they already ensnared her in their vice like grip. Her breath constricted in her lungs as one wrapped tightly around her chest, and lifted her into the air.
"I have been searching for you for some time now. Now that the shard is no longer inside that joke of a human, I need some assistance in finding the final shard," he said. Kagome's breath caught again. It wasn't in Kohaku anymore? What did that mean?! Was Kohaku dead?!
"I'll never help you!" she managed to spit out at him, despite hardly being able to breathe. Naraku merely chuckled at her.
"I have many things in store for you, Kagome." he seemed to purr at her. She struggled in the grasp of his tentacles, which only made him chuckle more. Why couldn't she summon up any of her purifying powers at all?! She felt as if she was wrapped in a wet blanket.
"You'll have to kill me! Because I'll never help you!" she roared. Naraku stepped towards her. She was now dangling upside down in the air, her face now mere centimeters from Naraku's.
"Now where would the fun be in killing you now? I can't let you join your precious InuYasha so soon, not before I get the final shard anyways." he replied. That was when she felt it. She shouldn't have felt it at ALL, but then again, her connection to InuYasha was so strong, that not even the strongest ward could keep them apart. She knew it was coming before InuYasha's strong voice yelled into the heavens. His voice was the sweetest thing she ever heard…
"KAZE NO KIZU!!!!"
His words seemed to resonate around them, and Kagome never saw a look of pure fear on Naraku's face before. Kagome reveled in it, just before a searing pain lanced through her shoulder. She looked down, ignoring the nagging thought that she shouldn't, and saw one of the tentacles protruding through her shoulder, then was ripped free when the attack struck, sending her flying. She felt like she flew really high into the air, whipping so wildly, she wasn't sure when she was heading downwards, until a strong arm caught her around the waist. The familiar scent of his Haori told her that InuYasha now held her, and she was freed from Naraku's deadly grasp.