Chapter Five
Inuyasha kept his golden eyes on Kagome. He could sense her
uncertainty rolling off her in powerful waves. It was tinged with fear. But
fear of what? It only made him more convinced that she had been attacked.
The lingering scent of kitsune was teasing his senses. The hanyou
wanted nothing better than to go out and find the youkai that dared to
touch his Kagome. But he knew he couldn't right now. He needed to stay with
Kagome. She needed his comfort, his protection.
"Kagome, were you attacked?" HE managed to ask, his voice barely
above a whisper. A few raven locks fell into the miko's face as her
sapphire orbs met his. But just as quickly, she looked away. Her uneasiness
increased.
'I knew it!' He thought, barely able to suppress the growl that was
begging to be let out. Kagome had been attacked, possibly even hurt and it
was all his fault! He hadn't been there to protect her. Inuyasha's ears
flattened back onto his head as for a moment his attention strayed from the
girl in front of him to his own thoughts.
'I am nothing more than a worthless hanyou...' He thought sadly. 'I
promised to protect her and I couldn't! I wasn't there when she needed me!'
Unsuppressed misery flooded over him. If only he had been a youkai, Kagome
would never have been in any danger. He would have been able to find her
and protect her. But he was a half-breed. Lower than the dirt that he
walked on. And yet Kagome still ran to him, and embraced him.
She acted like he was her equal.
And it tore him up inside.
"Well, I wasn't actually attacked..." Kagome's voice broke through
his train of thought.
'She wasn't attcked?!' Inuyasha couldn't help the relief that coursed
through his veins. His ears perked up slightly at the newly revealed
information. He didn't even notice how hesitant her reply was, or if he did
he didn't acknowledge it.
Everything drifted away from him in that moment. He no longer could
smell Kagome's anxiety or fear; he no longer saw the forest around him.
There was no forest floor, no approaching firecat or ningens. All there was
was Kagome's warmth, filling his arms and completing him for the precious
moment.
And there was that one coherent thought.
'I didn't fail her...'
And it was all over before it could really begin.
"INUYASHA!"
Kagome's alarmed shriek pulled the hanyou out of his stupor. He
looked up just in time to see a silver blur rushing at him with claws
bared. He only knew one person that could attack that swiftly.
"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha yelled his brother's name as he pushed Kagome
away from him, towards the safety of the surrounding forest. He dodged the
fatal attack, barely escaping with a gash on his right shoulder. Taking a
breath in preparation for battle he drew the Tetsusaiga from its sheath,
barely registering its transformation as suddenly a scent came his way.
"What the fuck?!"
Inuyasha golden eyes darted feverishly, trying to locate the demon
that had just tried to kill him. The scent that he was catching was not
that of Sesshomaru but of a kitsune. The inu's eyes widened in realization.
The same kitsune that had been near Kagome!
In a rush of memories, Inuyasha suddenly recalled Kagome's scent and
voice as she assured him that she had not been attacked. He began to
realize that her uncertainty and hesitation had drasticly increased as she
had lowered her eyes and voice. She had been lying. He was a fool to have
not noticed right away. She was an awful liar after all.
He began to mentally berate himself for jumping so quickly to bask in
her kindness that he almost didn't make one last vital connection. Almost.
Kagome had been lying to him. She had been tainted with this
kitsune's scent and she had lied about not being attacked. That meant that
this youkai was the one that had attacked her.
Inuyasha cracked his knuckles as he adjusted his grip on Tetsusaiga.
A feral gleam came into his eyes as they narrowed in hatred. This was his
chance to avenge Kagome and make whoever had dared try to hurt her suffer.
This was his opportunity to prove himself to her.
Inuyasha felt the slight discrepency in the air flow as it rushed
from behind him. His ears twitched as he caught the faintest rustle of dead
leaves on the forest floor. Spinning around at the last moment he parried
the attack that had been meant to decapitate him and countered with a swing
of his mighty blade, hurling the kitsune into a tree.
Kagome winced at the resounding crack that echoed through the deadly
silent woods as the tree splintered with the force of the attackers body
hitting it. Her eyes grew wide as she glanced upon the victim of Inuyasha's
blow and she realized who it was.
Inuyasha raised his fang above his head and began to search for the
windscar. The kitsune lay temporarily unconcious at the base of the
splintered tree trunk, obviously caught of guard by the hanyou's speedy
defense and counter attack. Inuyasha briefly saw his opponent, absently
noting his silver hair and ears much like his own. He didn't bother with a
further analysis though.
He knew that this fox was full youkai.
And he had attacked Kagome.
Inuyasha found the wind scar.
Tetsusaiga raised a little more as Inuyasha prepared to slice along
the clashing of the two demon youkis. Kagome watched in horror as, as if it
were in slow motion, Inutaisho's fang began to gracefully descend,
beginning to graceful arch that always ended with the death of whomever was
on the recieving end of the kaze no kizu.
Without stopping to think what might happen, the miko raced in front
of Youko Kurama, shielding his unconscious body with her own frail frame.
"Inuyasha! STOP!"
***************************************
Suuichi's head jerked up violently as he cried out in pain.
Vaguely he was aware of the voices of his classmates asking him if he
was okay. The pain in his head was too intense for him to really grasp
their words though let alone answer. He cried out again as another wave
went through his head. This time their were words with it.
"Inuyasha! Stop!"
That voice, it was so familar, yet he knew that he had never himself
heard it before. A brief flash of the same raven haired girl with ragged
clothes, covered in dirt and mud, flashed in his mind.
"Minamino?" A steady voice called out to him as a hand gently shook
his shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Kurama forced open one emerald eye. It was met with a deep brown pair
of orbs staring at him intently, concern plainly visible, from behind glass
lenses. Opening his other eyes, Suuichi forced himself to take his hands
from his head and place them on his desk. Erasing all emotion from his eyes
he returned his teacher's gaze as solidly as he could.
Another flash of pain went through him and his hands flew to his
temples, his eyes once again firmly shut. His teacher was once again
gripping his shoulders, shaking him a little more roughly and demanding to
know if he was alright.
The pain left him as suddenly as it came and Suuichi felt a calm,
serene feeling engulf him. His eyes snapped open in surprise as he stared
at the man in front of him without actually seeing him.
"Minamino, can you hear me?" That deep voice called out again.
Absently Kurama nodded, unconsciously noting the whispers and
snickers in the background.
"Are you alright?"
The scarelt haired boy forced himself to focus on the person in front
of him. Dumbly he nodded as he lowered his hands to fold them in his lap.
His teacher frowned in doubt as he placed a palm firmly on the boy's
forehead, searching for signs of a fever.
Realizing that his teacher was not assured by his mute nodding,
Kurama opened his mouth. In words much hoarser than he would have like he
began to try to speak. "I am fine Mr. Takama..." His raspy voice, violently
conrtasting to his normally silken one, trailed off there. He offered no
explanation for his earlier behavior.
Mr. Takama's frowned deepened at Suuichi's voice. He made a small
grunt of disproval, but could think of nothing else to do. "Why don't you
go to the nurse's office for a drink of water." He said more than suggested
as he straightened and walked to the front of the room to resume the
earlier lesson.
Suuichi nodded politely to the retreating back, and gathering his
books, silently made his way to the exit. Ignoring the questioning stares
on his back, the young man turned the knob, and slipped out into the halls.
As soon as the door was closed, Suuichi let out an inaudible sigh of
relief. Leaning against the wooden barrier, he closed his eyes for a
moment, relaxing his body and mind. He did not want to deal with the stress
now that was sure to come later. He knew that his little outburst would not
remain a secret for long. By the end of the next period the entire
congregation would most likely know that Suuichi Minamino was going crazy.
He shuddered involuntarily at the thought of the weeks to come. He
would have to endure everyone's questions and stares for quite a while now.
It was going to be hell.
Opening his eyes, Kurama stood straight and began to walk in the
opposite direction of the nurse's office. He was definately not going
there. There was nothing that the old woman who claimed to practice
medicine could do for him anyways. He wasn't sure what was going on with
him lately, but he had his suspicions that it had something to do with
Youko and his past.
Suuichi massaged his temple as he climbed the stairs to the roof
exit. Right now he just needed to be alone. If it wasn't for his mother, he
would have just left the building and perhaps gone off to Makai for a
while. At least until he was sure what was going on. But he didn't want to
worry her. She was the only person that really cared for him in this world
and he couldn't betray that trust.
Kurama pushed open the heavy door that lead to the roof and walked
out into the slinding sunshine. For a moment he stood still and silently
cursed the shining sun for having to be so bright. A voice quickly snapped
him out of his revere though and he bit back the urge to groan in
frustration when he recognized who it belonged to.
"Yo Kurama! Skipping out on class?" Yuuske called out from his perch
on the roof of the doorway. His brown eyes displayed a hint of concern as
he stared down at his scarlet haired companion.
"No Yuuske." Kurama replied in a monotone, unwilling to reveal the
reason that he was here in the first place. Inwardy he scolded himself for
forgetting that this was Yuske's favorite stakeout during school. He
longingly wondered where Keiko was, wishing that the brunette could
magically appear and haul the black haired boy off to class like she
normally did.
Fate was never really fair to him.
Just to prove that point, another person joined them on the roof.
Suuichi smiled slightly as he heard Yuske whine in annoyance. "Kuwabara,
what are you doing here?"
For a moment the tall, thin man who had just joined them on the roof
glanced around franticly, trying to locate the speaker. He finally ceased
his ridiculous searching when laughter trickled down to his ears from above
him.
Kuwabara glared accusingly at Yuske who was clutching his sides
laughing at the orange haired boy's idiocy. "Hey it's not funny Uremeshi!"
Kuwabara yelled, resulting in more laughter from the Spirit Detective. "I
mean it! It's not! You keep laughing and I'm gonna have to punch you so
hard that...that..."
Kuwabara's face visibly screwed itself up in confusion as he tried to
think of a suitable insult to apply to the end of his threat. Needless to
say he wasn't taken seriously and Yuske practically rolled off off his
perch above the door he was laughing so hard.
The only thing stopping Kurama from rolling his eyes and telling them
both to shutup was his manners. "Kuwabara, Yuske, could you two just be
quiet for a moment?" He finally managed to ask between clenched teeth.
The two boys stopped immediately and stared unashamedly at their
fellow spirit detective. The annoyance that seeped into his voice was
highly out of character for the young man who was normally so quiet and
composed. Kurama realized his mistake at once but made no move to explain
himself or rectify what he had done.
Yuske let out a low whistle and walked over to where Suuichi was
leaning over the side of the building. Kuwabara stayed where he was,
perhaps too shocked by the outburst despite the fact that it was hushed and
respectful.
"Yo Kurama? What's the matter?" asked Yuske as he sat down indian
style on the roof ledge and gazed out in the same general direction as the
boy next to him. Suuichi didn't even blink. The jet haired boy peeked
curiosly out of the corner of his eye, awaiting an answer, but still Kurama
did not acknowledge his presence. Whatever was bothering him it was
something he obviously didn't want to talk about.
Taking the silent hint, Yuske got down from the edge and walked away
towards the door, pasusing only long enough to drag the still frozen
Kuwabara with him. Together they walked down the stairs and towards their
classrooms, each silently pondering what could've affected their friends
normally subdued, yet cheerful, nature.
Suuichi was finally left alone on the roof to contemplate his
thoughts. He felt a little guilty for being so cold to Yuske and Kuwabara
************************************
"Inuyasha! STOP!"
The hanyou's eyes widened in horror as he watched Kagome fling
herself in front of his demon blade, sheilding the kitsune's body with her
own.
Tetsusaiga contined its descent, beginning to tear into the wind
scar, before, due to his remarkable reflexes and brute strength, it halted
just above the miko's ebony head.
Inuyasha could feel his knees shaking in the aftershock of what he
had almost done. He felt like he was going to be sick, his stomache was
leaping into his throat. His eyes were still wide and his father's hand
hovered in midair right where it had stopped in its deadly path. He was so
scared about what had almost happened that he couldn't force himself to
think straight, let alone be angry. He couldn't even move.
As it was, a strong gust of air whipped at Kagome and Youko Kurama,
the only sign that Inuyasha had been about to execute the kaze no kizu.
Inuyasha's knees finally buckled underneath him and he slumped to the
ground as Tetsusiaga reverted to its harmless form of an old rusted blade.
His empty golden eyes continued to stare straight ahead, but a fire was
quickly growing within them as motion and thought tentatively returned to
his body.
Kagome remained on her knees, her entire body shaking in fear. She
wasn't aware of anything except for the limp body beneath her and the dying
wind rushing past her. Her tensed form flinched when she heard Inuyasha
fall to his knees in front of her.
Neither of them moved or said a word.