Chapter Eight
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*
Inuyasha's head jerked up when he caught a familiar scent.
'Kagome.'
Without a word to Sango and Miroku, who stared at him blankly, he
jumped from his perch and took off towards the miko's scent.
He couldn't smell the kitsune with her. But that didn't mean that he
wasn't there.
'Damn fox.' Inuyasha thought as he urged his legs to move more
quickly. 'Bastard's probably masking his scent.' The hanyou couldn't help
the possessive twinge he felt when he thought of how Kagome had lead the
youkai away, holding his hand.
Inuyasha didn't want to admit that the sight had hurt more than he
thought that it would. Kagome was his. She should know that. She was his
and his alone. He was the only one that could protect her, or hold her
hand.
Only him.
He ran faster.
Kagome's scent was getting stronger as he approached, but he was
still some distance away. Only a few more minutes and he would be there.
Trees blurred past and twigs snapped beneath his bare feet.
He sniffed the air, making sure he was still on the right track.
He stopped dead.
Kagome's scent was getting stronger, more enticing.
His woman was becoming aroused.
By some other youkai.
Inuyasha's eyes flashed red briefly before he reached for his sword.
Upon drawing it Tetsusaiga immediately transformed. The demon blade seemed
to pulse as it mimicked Inuyasha's anger. The hanyou didn't hesitate before
continuing on his way, racing through the forest even faster than before.
'Kagome...'
On the surface he looked fierce and blood thirsty, but underneath it
all, the inu's heart was gnawing at him. What if she liked this youkai more
than him? She had after all spared his life. And now she was getting
aroused. That bastard was the only one the could be near her. He was the
only youkai around for miles.
Suddenly the kitsune's scent attacked Inuyasha's senses.
The fox was aroused as well.
Inuyasha's eyes flashed once again, despite the Tetsusaiga being held
firmly in his grasp as he raced forward, urging his limbs to work harder
than was possible. He could almost hear Kagome now. He could hear her
muffled protest.
It made him even angrier to think that not only was the youko
touching HIS woman, he was trying to force himself on her as well.
But still, Kagome's scent was teasing him. Telling him that she
didn't at all mind what was happening.
Inuyasha let out a feral growl.
The kitsune's scent disappeared. Inuyasha would be able to see Kagome
any minute now. He wasn't sure if he would see the fox there though. Just
in case he kept his father's fang out and ready.
He wanted nothing more than to cleave that bastards head from his
shoulders.
And then maybe cut his body into little pieces.
He would just have to distract Kagome first.
A small, wicked smirk found its way to Inuyasha's lips as he burst
through the last defense of trees hiding his miko from his view.
Kagome was standing there, one of her arms was raised, it looked as
though she was touching her face. The other one hung limply by her side.
Her legs looked they were going to give out from underneath her at any
moment, yet Inuyasha could detect no fear in her scent.
His anger drifted away for the moment as he watched her. He began to
feel genuinely nervous. Cautiously he stepped forward, sheathing Tetsusaiga
and casting a glance around to make sure that the kitsune wasn't standing
somewhere nearby. Habitually he sniffed the air to double check, knowing
already that it would be futile.
He took another step toward Kagome, his molten golden eyes fixed on
her. She still hadn't noticed him.
SNAP!
He flinched in surprise as his foot crushed a dead twig. But the
sound caught Kagome's attention and she whirled around to face him, shock
evident in her widened eyes.
"Inuyasha?" She asked, almost incredulously. Inuyasha was about to
reply with one of his famous indifferent comments when he noticed
something.
Kagome's fingers were still on her lips, but they didn't do a good
job hiding them from view. Inuyasha's keen eyes could see, even from the
distance that he was at, that they were beginning to swell slightly. He
fought back the need to growl and kill something when his mind registered
just what had made Kagome so aroused.
If her lips weren't proof enough, then the kitsune's scent that
assualted him when he came closed, clinging to every crevice of her mouth,
would more than suffice. This time Inuyasha didn't feel as much anger
though.
He felt rejected.
Pain flashed in the depths of his amber orbs as he approached Kagome.
She looked at him curiously but said nothing. She knew just by looking at
him that he knew what had happened. She felt guilty, but strangely enough,
she didn't feel sorry.
It hadn't been a bad first kiss after all.
Inuyasha was now standing out front of her, only inches away. His
adorable furry ears were flattened against his head. Kagome was sure that
if he had a tail it would have been firmly wedged between his legs.
A tingling sensation made itself known in Kagome's head as Inuyasha's
hand went forward to rest on her limp arm. Kagome moved into him, chastely
embracing him to reassure him that she was okay. It took all of her power
to refrain from glancing over his shoulder where she knew, somewhere in the
depths of the forest, someone was watching their exchange.
"Are you okay Inuyasha?" Kagome asked quietly, rubbing her hand
lightly on his back in what she hoped was a soothing motion. She cared
deeply for the hanyou and was partially shocked that she was thinking of a
certain thief as she comforted Inuyasha. She shoved the intruder's image
forcefully out of her mind and instead concentrated on the demon in front
of her.
At her words, Inuyasha seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had
been in. His eyes lost their lost look and he stared down at her, almost
accusingly. Why was it that she getting that look so often today?
"Feh. I'm fine wench." He snorted. His nostrils flared however and
the girl could tell that he was smelling Kurama all over her. Inuyasha's
eyes became clouded again for a moment as he seemed to look right through
her. But the glazed expression passed, replaced with a slightly more
serious one.
"Kagome. Did you like his kiss?" Inuyasha whispered so quietly that
she barely caught his words. Kagome's breath caught in her throat. That
DEFINATELY was not what she had expected him to ask.
Her sapphire eyes gazed up into his amber ones. Through their eye
contact he pleaded with her to be honest, he would know if she was lying.
Kagome looked away, staring pointedly at her hands, which she clasped in
front of her. She tried desperately to ignore the tell tale sensation of a
shard near by.
That bastard was probably smirking and waiting to hear her answer
too.
"It was my first kiss." Kagome softly admited, deliberately evading
Inuyasha's question. The hanyou's pent up breath released itself in a
inaudible sigh of relief. He knew that she had enjoyed it, her scent had
told him as much. But not having to hear it said aloud made it a little
easier for him to accept.
Kagome continued to stare at her hands.
"Well come one wench." Inuyasha finally snapped, breaking the
uncomfortable silence and making the young woman jump. "Sango and the
hentai are waiting for us. They already set up camp. Tomorrow we are
definately looking for shards again! Don't think that just because you were
lost for a .day it means that we're going to delay anymore."
Inuyasha turned and crossed his arms, his nose sticking slightly up
in the air. A warm genuine smile flooded Kagome's face. It seemed that
everything was back to normal as Inuyasha bent a little so that she could
climb on his back.
For now anyway.
Kagome glanced over her shoulder one last time as Inuyasha began to
run back to their comrades.
She could've sworn that she saw a flash of gold.
********************************************
Suuichi sat alone his room. He cradled his head in his hands as he
hunched over his desk. The sheet of homework that he had been doing was a
bit blurry as he opened his sleep weary eyes. Yawning as he ran a hand
through his scarlet locks, Suuichi forced himself to sit up straight, the
back of his chair pressing into his back as he stretched a little.
Blinking furiousy he looked back down at the page. He hadn't even
completed the first question. He sighed heavily and lifted his still waking
body from the chair, somehow managing to drag it gracefully across his room
to his window.
Throwing open the panes of glass Kurama allowed the afternoon breeze
to play with his hair a bit as he leaned on the sill. Proficiently, he
began to slowly empty his mind of all thoughts, until only certain ones
remained.
His emerald eyes flickered shut as he forced his groggy human mind to
recall the day's events so far.
Suuichi had remained on the roof for another class period before
going in to finish the school day. It had all gone well enough, without any
more revelations or pain. Though Youko's conciousness had been sulking in
the recesses of Suuichi's mind.
Kurama had quickly gone home when school finished, not even waiting
to bid farewell to Yusuke or Kuwabara before he departed. The young man had
been in an uncharacteristic rush to get home. He wanted to try to figure
out why he was having these sudden flashes and mysterious dreams.
Just who was this girl?
He had slid quietly through the front doors, only pausing to remove
to his shoes and give his mother a quick kiss on the cheek out of habit,
before he had fled to his room. There he had sat down at his desk to do his
homework.
But before he could even finish he must have dosed off.
Suuichi's emerald eyes narrowed in displeasure.
This was not a good thing.
It was acceptable if the dreams came to him while he was already
asleep. He could deal with the sudden revelations, though they were
painful, during the day while he was awake.
But the unwillingly falling asleep without any forewarning was not
something he could cope with.
It was dangerous for him, being what he was, to do so.
A familiar aura made itself known as it approached Suuichi's
destination. The young man frowned thoughtfully as he awaited the koorime's
arrival. If these flashes, whatever they were, were going to cause him to
just suddenly pass out, he would need to tell someone he trusted about
them.
Who better than Hiei?
A wry smile crossed Kurama's face. He couldn't wait to see what the
stoic little fire apparition would have to say about this.
As he waited his fingers brushed against his lips as he recalled his
most recent 'dream.' It had certainly been... interesting.
'Admit it. You enjoyed kissing that ningen girl.' A silky voice
taunted him.
'So did you Youko.' Suuichi replied smoothly.
He could feel the kitsune's cocky smirk.
'And so did she.'
Had Kurama been anyone else he would have rolled his eyes at the
youkai's inflated ego. He would never understand how a part of him could be
so vain.
Youko pretended to pout.
'I am not vain.'
'You are too.'
'Mind if I interrupt?' A voice echoed loudly through Kurama's mind,
pulling him out of his internal conversation. A short man with spiky black
hair was standing just inside of his window, regarding him casually. His
crimson eyes flashed dangerously, though they bore no outward sign of any
anger directed at the scarlet haired man before him. Suuichi smiled warmly
as he nodded in welcome.
"Hello Hiei."
"Hn."
The remark sounded indifferent, but Suuichi could tell that the
koorime was masking his concern about something.
"Is something wrong Hiei?"
The smaller demon's black robes rustled softly as he walked away from
the window. Suuichi closed the panes and turned to lean his back against
them, as if he were preventing Hiei from leaving. Both knew that that was
not the case though.
If it was then the human body of Suuichi Minamino would be lying in a
mangled heap in a pool of his own blood.
Kurama smirked as Hiei finally ceased walking in order to recline
against a wall opposite him. Crimson met emerald but neither spoke for a
moment.
"What's going on with you fox. That ningen bakas couldn't stop
harrassing me. They were demanding to know what was wrong with you as if I
would know."
Suuichi sighed a relaxed more against the wall. He titled his head
back and watched the ceiling. A small spider was scurrying across. His eyes
followed its movements for a moment until he began to speak.
"I've been having some peculiar dreams. I think that they may have to
do with Youko's past, but there's a girl in clothes from this era." He
paused for a reaction from the koorime.
Though he was not looking at him, he could feel Hiei's curious gaze
boring into him. Though Hiei would never admit it, he was almost as curious
as Youko at times. The fire apparition just had the control to maintain
from going after everything that he desired.
"Hn. Ningen's and your stupid dreams. If you were in your true demon
form, you wouldn't be bothered with such nusiances."
Suuichi smiled faintly, just the corners of his lips curling upward.
The response was a typical Hiei answer. The meaning of it was more around,
"So are you going to tell me about this dream?" rather than what the words
actually said.
"Yes, they are nusiances." Suuichi agreed. Pausing once more he
searched for the spider with his eyes. It was still scurrying across the
ceiling, now moving towards his bed.
"The dreams are always of the same girl. Kagome I think her name is.
But it's as if I'm stalking her. Youko seems to know of her, but nothing
about her."
Hiei was silent this time. His red orbs followed the path of Kurama's
to the arachnid. The koorime waited for Suuichi to continue.
"During class today, the revelations came upon me while I was awake.
I felt an extreme pain in my head and heard the girl's voice yelling at
someone named Inuyasha to stop. Stop what I'm not sure."
Hiei's eyes returned back to his scarlet haired friend at the mention
of the second name. "Inuyasha? As in dog demon?" He asked, not fully
realizing that he was speaking aloud. Kurama smiled softly once again and
nodded.
"Yes. In this most recent dream I discovered that Inuyasha is a demon
companion of the girl's. In fact he's an inu hanyou I think." Suuichi
paused. Pushing against the wall he walked across his room to his bed and
sat on the edge. For the first time since the conversation had begun he
turned his eyes toward the fire apparition, awaiting the smaller demon's
opinion on all of it.
Hiei's eyes remained on the spider for a moment longer before he
finally stared out the window. He said nothing.
'Aren't you going to tell him that you kissed her?' Youko teased.
'No.'
'And why not?' The kitsune urged.
Suuichi ignored him. He wasn't going to turn this dream into some
kind of testosterone filled kiss and tell story. Youko sighed half-
heartedly in defeat.
Hiei still said nothing. Kurama sighed. He might as well finish.
"The most recent dream came today, moments before you arrived. I was
beginning to do the school work on my desk but unexpectedly, I fell
asleep."
Hiei's eyes snapped from the spider and fell sharply on Suuichi. His
crimson gaze flickered in question and anger, though Kurama knew that the
latter was not directed at him.
Hiei was a complete solo act. Or at least he always had been. But he
and Kurama had become what one could call friends. Suuichi was perhaps the
only person the Hiei could fully trust. He was the only one that Hiei would
even confide in, though the occurence of that was still quite rare. Passing
out without any forewarning was a very dangerous thing to happen to you
when you fought with demons and were wanted dead by others.
The koorime crossed his arms over his chest and continued to stare at
Kurama. Hiei was trying to read the other's mind, Suuichi could feel it.
But emerald eyes gently met Hiei's own and told him not now.
"Hn."
Kurama only managed a ghost of a smirk this time.
"So fox. What are you going to do about this?" The fire apparition
finally asked. Suuichi allowed himself to sigh aloud as he ran his hand
through his firey locks once again.
"I don't really know what to do Hiei." He admitted, a hint of
helplessness lingered at the edge of his tone, alarming to smaller demon.
"The only thing I can think of is to try and find the girl. She wears a
modern school uniform, but she could still be anywhere in Japan."
Hiei crossed the room to stand next to the window. His eyes narrowed
in concentration as he stared blindly at a nearby telephone pole.
"You could try telling Koenma." He suggested so softly that Kurama
could barely hear it.
Suuichi didn't even dignify that with a response. They both knew that
they couldn't just tell Koenma. The toddler formed ruler of spirit world
knew that Youko existed somewhere inside of the human Suuichi Minamino. The
kitsune was the reason for his strength and spirit energy. He knew that
Suuichi was also able to call out his Youko form with the aide of a potion
given to him in the dark tournament.
But Koenma didn't know that Youko's soul co-existed with Suuichi's in
the same body. He didn't know that they could freely communicate and share
memories. The infant ruler had no idea that Youko Kurama was always present
and could see and hear everything that Suuichi Minamino did.
If he knew then Kurama would probably not being on the Spirit
Detective team. Or walking the streets of ningenkai.
He would most likely be locked up in some spiritworld prison cell,
rotting away.
Kurama shivered at the thought.
Hiei didn't even understand why he had suggested something like that
in the first place. The koorime continued to watch the street out the
window. Staring idly at the random humans walking past as he tried to think
of something effective that they could do.
His back remained turned to Suuichi until he heard a soft thump. The
sound a body made as it slowly slid to the floor.
Kurama was asleep.
***********************************
Youko sat comfortably on a particulary thick branch high in a tree.
His golden eyes stared at a small flickering flame further into the forest
with a bit of amusement. He rolled a shard around between his forefinger
and thumb.
He toyed with the idea of throwing it on the forest floor and waiting
to see if Kagome would come and get it. The look on her face would no doubt
be priceless as she picked it up and wondered how he could have found it.
A smirk played with the corners of his lips.
Or maybe he would just keep it and see what the ningen girl had in
mind.
The smirk widened.
Yes that would be more interesting. He would hold onto the shard and
humor her. She probably thought that he wouldn't notice where she had
fastened it to the back of his tunic sleeve. She was probably just that
foolish.
His eyes narrowed.
But he had never given her any reason to expect that he was capable
of noticing. He acted like a fool himself around her. He didn't like that
one bit.
For some reason when he was around the ningen female he was not as
ruthless as he usually was. He acted without caution nor thought.
It was for him, completely out of character and unforgivable.
Half of him yearned to show the girl that he was the legendary bandit
Youko Kurama. A youkai that would not hesitate to attack and kill with one
foul swoop. A demon that had never been defeated, who was ruthless,
emotionless, and ALWAYS got what he wanted.
Yet another half did not want her to see him that way. That part of
him wanted him to let down all his emotional boundries and just be at ease
with the strange girl. It wanted him return her feelings of companionship
and refrain from hurting anyone she knew or her herself. That part of him
wanted to protect her.
That part of him was attracted to her.
Youko went rigid as the realization hit him. He, Youko Kurama, was
attracted to a mere ningen!