Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Hidden Hanyou	By : SheShar Category: InuYasha AU/AR > General Views: 7988 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor the characters, and make no money from this fan fiction.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Inuyasha clapped the side of his face as he thought back on that last night with Kagome. Don't think about it now, you'll just get yourself all worked up, he cautioned himself. Besides, she probably forgot all about that. She was fifteen. It was a long time ago. In fact, he reassured himself, he wouldn’t have been surprised if she had forgotten all about him before his plane had even touched down in Boston.
He tried to heed her order and stay still, but every second he was awake he became more restless as the yokai components of his blood flushed his system and labored to heal the damage wrought by the attempted Purification. The sensation made him irritatingly nauseous and there was a sound similar to the crashing of waves which resounded in his sensitive ears.
He found he was now able to raise his left arm, though with a good deal of pain, and his leg did not feel as lifeless as it had during the previous weeks of his drugged stupor. His healing body cried out for activity and that perked him up considerably.
Spiritual attacks of the sort wreaked havoc on full bloods, let alone hanyou like himself, and though his every instinct was to flee this cramped, stifled space in search of fresh air, he held this urge at bay and instead took full stock of his little room for the first time.
His room was narrow enough that had he the inclination, he could reach out and touch the side of the wall and it seemed about three times his own length. Wisps of abandoned webs were the only adornment, and the splintered wooden beams of the ceiling hung low and warped.
Used to the open forests and fields of the countryside where he had been forcibly exiled for the past months, he tried to acclimate to his lodgings. It was small, but clean; his own unpleasant smell marring the freshness and cleanliness the girl had so obviously endeavored to establish prior to his coming.
The pallet he was stationed upon wasn't quite long enough and the heels of his feet rested on the wooden boards of the floor. He couldn't really complain though, as the material cushioned him from the bite of wood and the chill of the winter air. Inuyasha pulled his blanket up a bit. He wiggled his toes but became a little distraught when the appendages of his injured foot refused to cooperate. After a moment or so of coaxing, they moved back and forth at his internal command.
His make-shift bed was made up of numerous softly worn blankets, some of which, he noted with pleasure, still retained a bit of the fragrance of their mistress. It could not be denied, however, that most of his bedding had been defiled by the sweat and remnants of dried blood that clung stubbornly to his body. The linen was in desperate need of a good washing and so was he. He wanted a bath, but he wasn't sure his caretaker would relent just yet.
But damn he smelled. He wondered if Kagome noticed his stench.
His mind briefly flashed to an image of Kagome’s body as it was poised above his. Her breathy exertion on his neck and shoulder, her ass on his lap. The way it felt to almost have her in his arms. He could describe it as nothing other than intense and tried to recall another time when he'd felt a similar rush. He wasn't sure if he had the strength to try to make his way out of the little room at the moment, but if she wanted to help him up, it sure would be fun to try.
A miniature lamp provided the only light save what light managed to infiltrate the miniscule space between the slatted wall that separated his room from Kagome's. He looked around for a light bulb or socket but found none.
Near the opposite end of the room from where he lay propped up, sat a crate full of books, teetering one on top of another, and next to that a small crate from which his duffel and shoes peeped out from. He was grateful for the careful storage of his stuff, but his eyes flicked back to the books. He hadn't had the time or inclination to actually read anything much longer than a road sign during the past year, but had seriously missed the amiable company of his library back home. He wondered why she kept the books secreted away. Hidden books for a hidden hanyou, he thought with some amusement.
He strained to read some of the visible titles. Hmm. He knew that at least half those books had been banned for being a threat to Japanese culture and morality.
He had picked up a list of prohibited materials sometime during his stay on the Island, and the list, ranging from fairy tales to cook books, would have been sort of laughable if the repercussions for not turning forbidden texts over or destroying them weren't so incredibly real.
How the hell Lady Chatterley’s Lover could be a fucking hazard to the regime was beyond him, but then again he was still curious as to how the logic concerning hanyou annihilation worked in the minds of those in control. Hmmm. Lady Chatterley’s Lover? He made a note not only to thank Kagome for saving his life, but also to ask her about the erotic leanings of her literature.
As soon as she came back he'd have her bring him a selection to keep at hand. He knew Kagome was an avid reader with a much larger collection than the pitiful pile before him, and he mourned the books she, in all probability, had to get rid of to make room for him.
He sniffed the air towards the farthest and least lit region of his room and was welcomed with the faint but saliva inducing scent of dried ramen. Again Inuyasha smiled, acutely stirred that she would recollect his preference for the noodles. Must have thought about me a little since then, eh?
He made another connection. If she remembered the ramen, then she, in all likelihood, remembered all that had occurred between them. The fighting. The flirting. The kiss. His being a total ass. Though embarrassed by his past behavior, he could not deny the spot of hope that swelled within him at the idea of being dwelled upon by the beautiful young woman.
Get over yourself, dog, he scolded. Like she’d have nothing better to do than think of you.
His mind's turn of thought was interrupted by the swift step of his nurse as she approached. The hefty flap of the door lifted and Kagome worked her way in, pushing a basket before her as she crawled.
“Took ya long enough.”
She said nothing, but he noticed that her eyes, already so large and alluring, grew slightly wider still. She allowed the door to close piercingly behind her as though in reprimand.
Seconds passed and she had yet to move.
“Hey, come on, I was just messing with you, Kagome,” he sputtered, running a hand through his greasy hair. Inuyasha had been raised amongst two strong willed Japanese women and more than a few independent American ones and decided he had good reason to be unsettled by her silent form.
Despite experience, he couldn't help but bait her once again.
“Gone soft, pup?” he teased. “You could always take it before.”
True, Kagome thought, until you proved me a fool in front of my best friend and made it so that no other man could even begin to compare to you—remember what he did, Kagome, she told herself. Fooled around with your emotions, leading you on and making you think that he could actually like you.
As he sat there waiting for her response, Inuyasha was momentarily distracted by the unmistakable scent of...could it be? Was that beef? Here? In his little room? You couldn’t find a cow in all of Japan that wasn’t going straight to the army so how in the hell did she come up with beef, and fresh beef at that? Sango had told him of her circumstances, and while not destitute, he figured she had little extra income. He also knew that there was a shortage of almost everything, as most other nations ceased trade relations with the country, and rationing was the norm if not yet required. What the going rate would be on the black market he could only guess.
Inuyasha kept his mouth shut in case she turned a tease and decided not to share with him after all. Instead he asked her something he hadn't thought of in years but had occurred to him within the confines of his induced delirium.
“Remember when I took you and Sango to lunch at that new restaurant by the fairgrounds?”
Kagome said nothing but scooted next to him and flung the blanket from his injured leg. He adjusted himself straighter as she pulled out a small pair of scissors and began to cut through the bandages. As she snipped, his skin responded by forming into tight little bumps and the fine white hair that remained on his thigh bristled and stood at attention.
Inuyasha tried very hard to not become aroused at her touch.
She paused after cutting through half the length of bandage to adjust her position and to run a hand down her backside to ensure that her skirt did not ride up.
Inuyasha caught the swift movement. It was becoming very difficult for him to see through his non-arousal resolve, he thought. Very difficult indeed.
He continued to stare, downright entranced by the sight of her long fingers gracing the insides of his thighs as she pulled off the soiled cloth.
“And you let me order because Sango told you I had been there the day before,” he continued as she rummaged through the basket. She pulled out a sizable ball of something wrapped in wax paper.
He winced a little as she began to pack the contents of the ball onto the wound, a little harder than Inuyasha thought necessary, which meant...shit, she was still pissed about the trick he played on her that long ago lunch. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought it up. But he wanted to see if she remembered.
The hanyou held in a snigger as he thought about the look on her face the exact moment he had told her that what she had swallowed was fish semen. He had done it in retaliation for something she had done, but which he could no longer recall.
She cloaked his leg in fresh gauze. A good chunk of his muscle was gone, which might pose a problem when he began to walk, but he was alive, and she was now certain he would stay that way. Kagome was somewhat amazed. Just an hour ago she had feared a long recovery.
Damn hanyou and their incredible powers of regeneration. No wonder many in her country were afraid of them. They were almost invincible. Almost. She twisted her neck to face him.
“Was it the time you ordered me shirako and told me it was a popular dish in America? That time, Inuyasha?” Kagome questioned him in a cloy manner as she wrapped his leg, and with a final tug, tied the bandage into a tight little knot. “And you didn’t tell me what it was until after I swallowed and I was so mad that I threw my chopsticks at you but you ducked and I hit the lady behind you instead?”
“You can't be mad seeing as I spent the rest of my cash on another plate for you! Besides, that lady wasn’t too mad,” he grunted as he picked at a broken claw on his left index finger. “It barely even nicked her…” His voice trailed as her eyes narrowed.
“Anyways, I was gonna ask if you remembered the dessert they sold in the little colored baskets at the front of the place? What were they made from? Do you remember?”
Kagome smiled softly. “I think it was caramel,” she said as she rolled the soiled bandages into an orb and placed them in the basket. “You saw me looking at them, but didn't have any more money on you so you went back to the restaurant and bought me five pieces the next day.” She refrained from telling him how she had kept the last piece for at least a year afterward until her mother threw out the rock hard morsel thinking it was garbage.
As a young girl, she had thought it the sweetest thing anyone could ever do. And though a grown up Kagome realized it was kind of messed up that he had tricked her into eating something she would not have normally allowed near her plate, let alone her mouth, she knew that bringing her those candies had been his way of saying sorry.
The young woman un-tucked her legs and stretched them out before her while unbeknownst to her, the hanyou fought to reign in the urge to test the skin of the pale limbs that were so close, and yet so fucking far.
She nervously flexed her feet side to side to work out the numbness; the click of her worn canvas house shoes the only discernible sound other than the hanyou's labored breaths and her more quiet inhalations.
Kagome, still smarting somewhat from her kitchen recollections, knew she would have to make a resolve regarding her relationship with her new tenant.
She could treat him as an acquaintance, the brother of her dearest friend. She would remind herself daily to keep her dealings with him as reserved and as distant as possible. She wouldn't act like a bitch, but she would strive to remain aloof in their communications.
That's what I should do, she thought, still tapping her shoes together.
The alternative was that she could cast teenage Inuyasha aside and get to know this present incarnation. They were thrown together for who knew how long, Kagome reasoned, so they may as well attempt to forge a new friendship. They were able to get along before, despite the arguments and pranks, tolerably well, so it probably wouldn't be too difficult.
She regarded the half demon man before her, his facial cuts all but gone, his body rapidly healing itself at a pace a human could only dream of. He was filthy and underweight and his once thick hair was dull and listless from malnutrition, and if she wasn't mistaken, it probably hadn't been washed in weeks, if not months. The locks were pulled back out of his face with a scrap piece of leather and his ears, which she knew to be a shade darker than the chaotic hair around, were flaccid, the tips caked in what appeared to be dried mud. Despite this, or perhaps because she knew how he would eventually appear when cleaned up and fed, she struggled against her intense attraction.
Uggh.
Should she, could she, allow the bitterness that still simmered affect their dealings with one another?
Now was the time to settle the years of anger, heartache and the memory of Inuyasha creeping into every relationship she had ever attempted. Oh, forget it!
Kagome pursed her lips as she thought of the nights that she had directed her hand beneath her blankets, bringing herself to completion while she mouthed his name again and again until her heart rate slowed and she was lulled to sleep. She swallowed hard, extremely glad he could not read her thoughts.
He was intelligent, if a little emotionally dense, and eager, if a little lazy—unless it was something he was really into. At least that's what she had gleaned from Sango's descriptions and their short acquaintance.
Kagome felt as though she knew him, didn't know him, wanted to know him, and it was then she mentally threw her hands up in defeat. She figured full well that she could easily fall for him again based on a few winter weeks, a long ago kiss and an inkling of the grown man he had become. Hell, she was probably already there, the way he occupied her thoughts.
What am I saying, Kagome asked herself. Am I saying I loved him? That I could...No, it was just infatuation. Love was too loaded a word. Her mind continued to argue with her heart. She stopped clacking her feet and caught his attention.
Kagome pulled a thin, grease stained carton from the basket and lifted the lid, never once taking her eyes from his. She intended to bring him the leftover steak in order to see if he could keep down something solid and as an American boy, she figured this would do just the trick. She set the carton on the floor between them and slid it towards him.
His face remained stoic but his eyes gleamed.
“Tell me Inuyasha, what have you been up to all these years?”
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Kagome shook her head slowly in disbelief. “Please tell me you didn't?”
“Oh, I did,” he turned his head slightly and scraped off the cold meat from the bone. He loved the animation in her voice as she responded to the stories he regaled her with. “I still don’t feel bad about it either. Sesshomaru’s a jerk.”
The ease with which they fell into conversation surprised but pleased him.
“OK,” he continued, “so he'd been passed out for, let’s say, an hour. I’d never seen my brother that drunk, I couldn’t believe it at first. He’s usually so stuck up and proper. I guess everyone thought it would be best to just leave him at the table. His face was covered but the top of his head was right there. Right there, Kagome! So I grabbed the scissors and,” Inuyasha mimed the snipping of scissors with two fingers.
“I was so nervous he would wake up. In fact I was gonna cut it all off but I had to run outside because I couldn't stop laughing.”
“Jeez, I don't know how you had the nerve. Sango always told me how...formidable your older brother was. I don't think I would dare,” Kagome pulled at a thread from the hem of her dress. “Half-demon member of his family or not. What did he do when he woke up?”
“Well, I wasn't there, so I'm basing this on the little bit Rin'll tell me. But apparently, he didn't notice until he stumbled into the shower and tried to shampoo,” Inuyasha hadn't thought of that night for a while, but every time he did, the glee was fresh. “He was practically bald on top,” Inuyasha laughed, “but I left the rest of his hair alone. He looked so stupid.”
Kagome felt her eyes growing heavy but was loathe to call it a night. She had spent the last two hours sitting on the bare floor listening to Inuyasha reminiscence and piece together his life from the time they had known one another until now.
“Rin is your brother's girlfriend, right?” Kagome asked him, smiling. The hanyou nodded. “Well, how mad was he? More importantly, did he do anything to get you back?”
Neither mentioned the circumstances of their parting or of their own brief involvement, so Inuyasha amused her with stories from university in America and of how he managed to avoid joining his brother’s successful construction empire.
They laughed at his antics and of the various, and quite hilarious highlights of the past five years. He mentioned humorous aspects of dates he'd been on, but (almost to Kagome’s relief) no one particular girl.
Kagome was acutely aware that she could not remember the last time she was this relaxed, this at ease or this talkative. She had learned to keep her conversations short and to the point during the expensive calls to her family and when she was in the company of Naraku, he rarely allowed her to break the silence he valued so much.
“Kagome, I’m glad you said that because,” he continued, pointing the bone in her direction for emphasis. “I can't prove that he did anything. He came down to dinner, with the top of his head almost bald and in patches and ate and talked to me like nothing had happened. I lived in, I guess you could call it apprehension, for a week. Waiting. Just waiting for him to do something. But nothing happened. Well, nothing I can pin on him and nothin’ he'll take credit for.”
“What do you mean? You aren’t sure if he got even or not?”
Inuyasha ticked off his fingers. “Well, there was the beehive that suddenly appeared in the gazebo I used to study in. Um, there was the sandwich I don't remember having which I found moldering under the seat of my car. Then there were the phone calls at all hours of the night,” Inuyasha shuddered for dramatic effect. “After three nights I finally pulled the damned cord outta the wall. They would just call and hang up. Call and hang up—it's not funny!” he stuttered as she laughed. “Rin swore it wasn't him but I have a feeling he had her in on it. She was pretty mad about his hair too. For some reason she thinks my brother to be real handsome,” he smiled up at Kagome, who he was thrilled to see still listening with apt attention. He could tell she was tired, hell so was he, but he wanted her to stay longer.
She had such a sweet face, he thought. He couldn't pin down exactly what made her so attractive, but part of it had to be that pent up passion that seethed just below the surface. He wanted to run his thumb over the soft curves of her face and kis--
“I would have done so much worse,” Kagome told him, adjusting her position to grab the glass of water she had fetched for Inuyasha. “Drink. I probably would have had to kill you. Then make you buy me a lot of expensive hats.”
“Yeah well, I think he scared me enough. I mean, I wouldn't let myself fall into a deep sleep for the rest of the week,” he told her. He reached out to grab the proffered glass. “While I awaited his revenge.” Inuyasha took a drink and set the cup down.
“You know, I lied before when I said I didn't feel bad. Sesh didn't come out and say it, but I knew he was embarrassed while he waited for it to grow out. I was a real fuck up back then. Hell even now. I never took anything seriously,” he stared at the bone in his hand, unable to look her in the eye. “I feel like, I don't know...I didn't have it in me. I didn't want to grow up. He was always on my case, always threatening to send me back to my mom, and I was real resentful of the way he tried to act in place of my old man. He handled all the money my dad left me, and wouldn't let me touch it. I appreciate it now, since he's made me a hell of a lot more money, even though I can't access it till I'm thirty. I don't know Kagome....I’m twenty-five, and I don't feel like an adult yet. I wonder if I ever will”.
Intrigued by the sudden serious turn of the conversation, Kagome offered up a half smile, at a loss for words.
“Anyways, it's just recently that I began to try to get my shit together. I'm only hanyou after all and don't get a longer lifespan like my brother.”
“Is that why you joined the Opposition?” Kagome asked him. He shrugged.
“I'd say you've grown up a bit.” She paused briefly. “Hey, Sango wrote that after you graduated you were offered a position as an adjunct professor in your school’s history department. You had to have something they wanted, Inuyasha. It's a pretty prestigious university you went to and if you were a screw up like you say how did you manage that?”
“When your brother was the one who donated the money for and whose company built the new residence hall and said brother, father, future sister-in-law and stepmother were all alumni, well, that leaves you with a little bargaining power,” he leveled.
“Well that explains it,” Kagome said slyly, and with a growing smile. “I can’t imagine you imparting useful information in an academic setting.
“I'll have you know I was near top in all my classes, pup! Didn’t even really try. I could teach you a thing or two.”
“Still, with what you told me tonight I wouldn’t leave you responsible for the education of my own kid, let alone a classroom full!” Kagome laughed heartily as she said this.
Inuyasha laughed along with her though a queer sensation struck him at the mention of Kagome having children. He wondered if she really wanted any of her own. A brief flash of Kagome pregnant made him nearly moan with excitement.
“So basically in between parties and what I infer to be many, MANY girls, you managed to procure a graduate degree in Medieval History and what, decided to throw that away and come back to Japan and try to save all the hanyou?” Kagome's words were blunt but she was seriously interested in his motive.
Why come back to a place that wanted him dead when he had such a privileged life and encouraging future in the Sates?
“Well, Sango got her ass trapped here, Miroku too, although he could have prolly gotten out on his own. Sango had trouble because of the blood status of her bother and she wouldn't leave my mom...I really just joined to help get my mom and Sango out. It seemed like the only way to travel through Japan without getting caught. They offered some protection. For me. Not my mom.
His voice trailed off and Kagome immediately knew that this was not a subject they could comfortably discuss. After Sango had written to ask her to hide her brother, Kagome had received another letter soon after that only briefly touched upon Taya Miyamoto's murder at the hands of soldiers and explicitly stated that Kagome should avoid the topic when dealing with Inuyasha. She spoke without thinking, and regretted what came out of her mouth.
“So, you've been talking for two hours, jerk, don't you want to know anything about me?” She huffed, feigning offense. Baka. Baka. Baka. Kagome you are an idiot. You don’t want to talk about yourself!
But Inuyasha took the bait and the solemn look disappeared. Kagome had been so vague and wooden when she had answered the few questions he had posed that the conversation naturally seemed to flow entirely in the direction of his undertakings. Now it was his turn to have fun.
“So Kagome, what have you been doing the past, what five, six years?” He comically deepened his voice as he reversed the roles of interviewer and interviewee.
“Laundry. Lots and lots of laundry.”
“Yeah, I’m sure as a young and attractive female that’s all you did was laundry. Spill it Kagome.”
“Shut up, Inuyasha,” she said as she leaned forward, placing her hands close to his face. “I have proof. Are these not the hands of a laundry lady?” Her tone was light, but she warmed at his compliment.
He glanced briefly at the chapped and reddened hands—long and graceful, yet dry and a little cracked. They were a tribute to her devotion to her family and her work ethic. Those hands fed him when he could not feed himself. They held up his piss bucket when his own could not.
He wanted to tell her this, but instead shrugged his shoulders. “Keh, I've seen worse.”
Kagome sat back, settling her hands in her lap. They must be pretty bad if he couldn't even look at them. She changed the subject.
“I'm surprised you have yet to mention my books, Inuyasha.”
“I noticed. I was waiting for you to be a good nurse and volunteer to read to me,” he told her. “Sango mentioned once that you had shelves of em’.” He set down the now meatless bone in the carton beside him, his stomach filled for the first time in a year.
“This is all I have left. I had to sell some of the rarer ones that belonged to my father, and some I had to turn in. It was pretty much expected that you had to turn something in or they'd ransack your house for sure. I have a couple hidden in some random places around the house, but I can't remember how many. What I wouldn't give for a new book.”
He had a vivid flashback of Kagome, hair piled on top of her head, sitting against the couch reading in his living room while his sister practiced the piano. She had been wearing corduroy overalls, with a short sleeved white blouse underneath. Her collar was askew and he wanted nothing more than to sit next to her and rest his head upon her shoulder. She always seemed to rile him and calm him at the same time.
Inuyasha made then an impromptu decision. Though both had avoided the topic of their past dealings with one another, the atmosphere was heavy with unspoken words.
“Kagome?”
“Yes?”
“I....”
“Hmm?”
“It's just, when we first met and....” he paused as though to give her a moment to comprehend his meaning.
He did not have to wait long. As the words left his mouth Kagome stopped rubbing the kink from her neck to focus on him. Was he going to...no! She wasn't prepared for this. She wasn't able to face it just yet.
“When we—”
“Don't.”
“Don't?”
“Inuyasha, let's not revisit the past.”
“But that's what I've been doing for the past couple of hours,” he rebutted, now determined to see the course of the discussion through.
“I'd rather not.”
“Listen, if you’re still mad—”
She cut him off quickly. “I didn't say I was mad, still mad, or ever mad,” she snapped, a sudden flush breaking out across the bridge of her nose and cheeks.
“I just figured—”
“Well, you figured wrong,” she cut him off again.
“Jesus Kagome, can you shut the fuck up for one god damn second and let me tell you something?”
Kagome opened her mouth only to clamp it shut. No one had ever spoken to her in such a manner and it was all she could do to not kick him in the face. She would have, too, if it weren’t for the pleading look he gave her.
The dynamic slowly shifted, the space between them suddenly seemed like no space at all, and Kagome willed herself to get up and leave.
Softly she spoke, “Really, Inuyasha, you don't have to. I was a stupid kid—we both were. Honestly, it was long ago.”
“It doesn't seem that long ago to me.”
He startled her with his reply. No, she was definitely not ready for this discussion. She was tired, exhausted really, and not emotionally equipped to hear what he had to say. “Inuyasha,” she said and the tone of her voice conveyed to him that this wasn't the time. He watched her get on her hands and knees and turn to crawl to the door. “See you in the morning. Get some rest. Knock on the wall if you need anything.” She lifted the cord.
“Kagome, wait!” He called, a little too loud. He pushed himself up and leaned forward. Kagome stopped and twisted her neck to face him.
“Thank you. Thank you for saving me. For hiding me.”
She gave Inuyasha a cheerless smile before she turned back and crawled through the entrance. The door came down slowly and made a soft thud as it fell into place.
- 5
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