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Strawberry Summer	By : QueenoftheDream Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Kouga/Kagome Views: 3313 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor do I make any money in writing this fic.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
Friday, April 16, 1886
In the morning, Kagome awoke in the darkness just before dawn, as was the usual. She milked the cow and went about her chores as she did every morning, but she did so this time with a burdened mind. Somewhere out beyond their fence, Koga and Sota had dragged the foal's body after she retired to bed. She had heard Sota collapse on his bed next to hers with a heavy sigh just before she fell asleep. There was no doubt that the coyotes had already started in on the carcass, and as soon as the sun came up, the buzzards were sure to start circling. Part of her wished they wouldn't because seeing vultures not only confirmed the colt's death but also indicated just where the body had been deposited. There was something about knowing exactly where the dead horse laid that unsettled Kagome's stomach.
When she ducked into the chicken coop, the hens of course were sassy and irritable, but Kagome just didn't have the energy or gusto to react when they nipped at her fingers. After brushing the dirt off of the eggs, she headed inside to deposit them on the counter just as Mama was serving breakfast.
The thought of food made Kagome cringe. While she was in a nice warm house eating, that poor foal was laying somewhere, prone and being picked apart by animals. While she didn't have much of an appetite, Kagome knew she had to eat in order to keep her energy up for the day's work ahead, so she mechanically spooned food in her mouth.
"So Josephine told me about that black mare's little colt this morning," Mama started, and Kagome fought off the urge to sigh.
"Yeah, Koga said it looked like a cougar attacked it," she replied flatly before taking a bite of bread.
"Well maybe if he'd had a shred of common sense, he would have put those two in for the night and none of this would have happened." Her mother's voice was cold and hard, and Kagome cast wide eyes over to her brother, whose fault it was that the horse was killed. He averted his eyes and fixed them down on the plate in front of him.
"Sota-"
Her mother cut in. "No, it's bad enough that the halfbreed," she spat the epithet like a mouthful of venom, "left two vulnerable animals out at night, but he made your brother help him haul the carcass out for the buzzards."
Kagome exploded out of her chair. "There you go with the 'halfbreed' again. You're no different, Mother. What makes you so different from him?!" she shrieked.
"Kagome," Sota started, laying his hand upon her forearm, but she quickly jerked the limb back.
"Don't you even speak to me," she sneered. It was unfair, she admitted, to be so cruel to him, but she was thoroughly disappointed with his cowardice. Instead of admitting his guilt, he pawned it off on Koga who was already the bearer of their mother's every invective these days. Sota's lips pursed and he left the table without finishing his breakfast, slamming the front door behind him.
"That boy cost us money leaving those horses out at night! Before we know it, he'll be-"
Kagome interrupted, seizing the chance to throw a barb and prove her mother wrong. "Mr. Allen didn't cost us nothing! We didn't pay for that foal, remember? That gambling man only sold us the mare, so don't you even dare to pin this on him! I told Sota that you said to keep the horses out at night. How was I to know that he would be a half-wit and not put the mare and foal away?!"
Mama shot up out of her chair now, pointing her fork at Kagome's face for emphasis. Her voice was low, like the growl of a cat before it leapt into a fight. "Don't you dare try to pin the blame on your brother, young lady." Kagome's fingers gripped the edge of the table in a white-knuckled vice, and when she scoffed with a disgusted tilt of her lip, her mother's voice rose to a shout. "You are FORBIDDEN from seeing him, do you hear me? I will chain you to this table if need be, but so help me Lord, if I find you scurrying off to see that, that, thing again, I'll pack you off to the East so fast you won't know what hit you."
"It'll be awful hard to never see him since he WORKS HERE!" Kagome yelled before turning on her heel and stomping out the door, forcing herself to take deep calming breaths through her nose. She tramped over to the garden on the side of her house and, with ruthless deliberateness, plucked every little weed and sprout that peeked out from between the growing plants and tossed them at the chicken pen, uncaring if they made it over the wire fence and into the waiting hens' mouths.
After wandering around the ranch for a couple of hours doing little errands and chores here and there, Kagome looked up toward the road and saw two horses trotting down the lane. One she immediately identified as Sota astride one of their mounts. The other, she was dismayed to discover, was Joseph Hopkins. Kagome did the only thing she could at that point: pretend like she didn't see them and made a swift beeline to the tack shed where she hoped Koga would give her shelter until the neighbor left. She prayed to every angel in the firmament that Hopkins hadn't seen her slip around behind the chicken coop and speed across to the barn and tack shed.
Stepping behind the coop, however, the plan fell to shambles. The stench invaded her nostrils, and she almost leapt back. In a furry, misshapen pile half hidden by grass was what was left of the cat's body. She gave a small shriek, causing the hens to startle and cluck disapprovingly. Sota dismounted his horse and sprinted across the yard to her, followed by Hopkins.
"What is it?!" her brother wheezed as he bent over to place his hands on his knees before being repelled by the offensive smell. His eyes caught up with his nose, and Kagome could almost see her brother's skin crawl. "The cat…"
For whatever reason, Hopkins decided that it was a good time to interject. "Miss Kagome, your brother here has told me about your problem with the cougar. They like to hide their kills like this, you know," he stated matter-of-factly. It took all of Kagome's restraint to not pin him down with a withering glare, so she settled on a vacant expression. Ever clueless, he reached for her hand as he continued, grasping her fingers in his own impassioned grip. "You don't need to worry your little head over this, though, Miss Kagome. I've brought over our newest rifle, and I'll take care of this problem for you tonight."
She gently extracted her hand from his grip with a placating smile that she hoped wasn't the grimace she truly felt. There was no real way of getting rid of him. Moron he may be, but another able body was useful in trying to track and trap the mountain lion. "Thank you, Mr. Hop- eh, Joseph," she corrected herself. "I trust Sota will take you inside and fill you in on the rest of the particulars while I finish up some things, and we'll have lunch." Before Hopkins or Sota could protest that it was indeed her job as a woman to welcome and entertain company, she had turned and jogged up toward the large tack shed.
Her luck would have it that Koga was just walking out as she approached the door. Without thinking, she sidestepped him, then turned and yanked him back through the doorway by his shirt. As she reached to shut the door behind him, her eyes grew wide. Good Lord, he must think her a beastly, rude girl for yanking him so suddenly back inside. Either that, or he thought she was a tramp with a penchant for violence. Would he tell Mother? What if he got the wrong idea? Even worse, what if he was so horrified that he left their ranch for employment elsewhere?
As Kagome ran through the worried loop of thoughts, Koga's eyebrows rose so high that somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought they'd disappear into his hairline. "You mind telling me what we're doing in here, Miss Kagome?" he asked her, his voice slow and hesitant with a mix of caution and curiosity.
Heat flooded her face, and she nearly thought she'd die of embarrassment. She couldn't very well tell him that she was hiding from Joseph Hopkins. After all, that would make her look like a coward and a tease-
"You're hiding from that boy across the way, aren't you?" he asked with a sly lilt to his voice, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. His brows sank back down to rest over dark eyes filled with amusement.
Her neck grew hot as it flushed redder in the dim light filtering through the cloudy window. "N-no!" she stammered while her mind scrambled to think up a good excuse for corporeally dragging him around. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I just wished to inform you that I won't be able to bring you lunch today as Mr. Hopkins has decided to pay us a visit. If you ask Josephine, she should be able to whip something up for you." Kagome mentally applauded her calm demeanor.
His left eyebrow lilted upward in a question. "…so you found the need to drag me in here by my shirt, slam the door shut behind you, and tell me that?" Kagome grimaced, backing up until her calves hit the wooden ladder up to the loft.
She sighed. "No. I mean it is true; you'll have to talk to Josie if you want lunch, but yes. I was hiding from him." Koga chuckled, and her lips drew together in a huff. "Well if he was constantly chasing you around like a stupid goose, you'd want to kick him, too!"
Koga chuckled before cracking the door open to see if the coast was clear. After all, it wouldn't do to have everyone seeing her emerge from his rooms. Her intentions were innocent enough, but it would look pretty bad to a spectator. He waved her over with his hand, and she approached.
"Are you gonna try and catch that cougar tonight?" she asked. He nodded an affirmation. "Well," she continued, "if I sneak out tonight, can I help?" He turned, clearly meaning to ask her something like "Are you out of your mind," but she cut him off. "Actually, never mind. I'm coming anyway regardless of what you say." Her lips curled into a smug grin before she stepped out the door and headed back to the house, leaving a stupefied but amused Koga in her wake.
For the rest of the day, Kagome was mentally kicking herself for saying something so bold. What if it made Koga think that she was an impertinent girl? What if he was annoyed? Perhaps the biggest issue was the fact that she had spoken without thinking and was, in reality, petrified of being outside at night while a cougar was on the prowl, protected by her favorite ranch hand or no. She, however, had said it and her pride wouldn't let her back down, so she was bound and determined to swallow her cowardice and better sense and meet him outside just after supper.
Later, the family gathered around the table with Joseph Hopkins as their guest, and once again Kagome was forced to play the ever-attentive young lady when all that she wanted was to disappear. Her gut churned: partly from the sickening feeling she was increasingly feeling whenever Hopkins was around, partly from excitement at sneaking out to hunt the cougar, and partly from a great, roiling fear for her own survival.
She realized she had been staring into space when Hopkins's voice startled her. "I brought my brand new Winchester," he addressed Gramps as head of the household, "and I've made it my mission to eliminate this threat to your property." The color drained from her face when she realized he not only meant the land and horses, but also her family. He viewed her as property. It was, of course, to be expected of the times, but it bothered her that such a "well-intentioned," "kind" young man wouldn't have a more liberal view on women and marriage. Though it was a little unfair, she added another tally on her mental chalkboard of Hopkins's offenses.
"Fantastic," Mama said after dabbing her mouth with her napkin. "Joseph, dear, why don't you bring Sota out with you? It would do for you two boys to bond." Kagome glanced at Sota out of the corner of her eye and saw that he had blanched; he had thought that Mama had figured out that the whole debacle with the foal was indeed his fault. Luckily for him, such wasn't the case and Mama was simply wheedling and trying to find ways to work Hopkins into the family and attach Kagome at his side.
After bringing the slop out to the pigs and jogging back to the house in the fading light, she walked back in the door to see Hopkins and Sota standing in the sitting room, rifles in hand. Their father's solid old Henry rifle clearly weighed heavy in Sota's white-knuckled hands while Hopkins prattled on, his shiny new Winchester cradled in his arm and reflecting the light of the lantern at their side.
Kagome made a big show of retiring for the evening and forced herself to give a gentle grin when Hopkins took her hand in his and kissed the backs of her knuckles as she stood on the stairs. She could almost feel her mother's approving stare burning holes into the side of her head. As soon as she could, she bounded up the stairs and laid down in bed, bunching the quilt up around her chin just in case Mama decided to look in and discover that Kagome hadn't changed into her nightgown. After a while, she heard Mama help Gramps to climb up the stairs, and she waited a while until she could hear her grandfather snoring loudly. As quiet as she could manage, she sat up and swung her feet over the bed and onto the creaking floor.
While Kagome crept downstairs, she wrapped her green shawl around her shoulders and pulled some old gloves onto her hands. Her feet slipped into her shoes without a sound, and despite the excited and nervous pounding of her heart, nobody came down the stairs as she tied the laces. She didn't dare light a candle or lantern for fear of Sota, Hopkins, or, heaven forbid, Mama, seeing her sneaking out like a little idiot.
It took her a long moment that seemed like an eternity to get the front door closed behind her without making it creak or groan in protest. She let a sigh of relief escape her lips in a warm puff when she finally turned around. The fact did occur to her that while she did tell Koga that she would accompany him on this cougar hunt, neither of them had specified where. She cautiously checked the coasts before darting over to the tack shed. With a quick yank, the door jerked open with only a small clang in protest that was, to Kagome's relief, mostly drowned out by the sound of a gust of wind. She placed her feet on the wooden ladder up to the small loft where Koga slept, and her cheeks flushed to realize that she was basically invading his bedroom. Her intentions were completely pure, of course, but it sent a thrill through her veins to be in such a precarious situation.
Koga was not up in the loft, so she leaned over his mattress to open the small window. With no small amount of twisting, turning, and careful maneuvering, she was able to worm her way out the window and onto the narrow jut of roof that stat just outside the window. She scooted to her right so her back rested against the wood rather than the cold glass, drew her knees to her chest to avoid falling off the ledge, and waited.
The breeze was cold and whistled through her clothes, and she twisted her fingers in the ends of her shawl to keep them warm while curling her toes up in her boots. Just faintly, she could see the wisps of her breath against the blue-black backdrop of the night sky. All was quiet, and she cast her eyes around in what she knew to probably be a futile attempt at catching the cougar. Upon looking to her left, she saw Koga's amused face poking out of the window, and she stifled a scream.
"Any reason in particular you're sitting outside of my bedroom window?" he asked as he withdrew back into the loft of the tack shed to take his hat in hand.
"Well, I do live here," Kagome bit back drily. "And Sota and I have been coming up here for as long as I can remember." She watched him crawl through the window with about as much grace as a seven-legged dog, all the while holding his hat out in front of him so as not to smash it. With a huff, he finally situated himself and flipped the hat back on his head, pulling out his revolver to rest in his lap. The ajar window rested between the two, rattling slightly in the wind.
"That may be, but I'd imagine your mama don't much appreciate a young lady such as yourself climbing up roofs, trees, and who knows what else," he replied, and she could see a grin creep across his mouth. "And you're lucky I found you up here," he added, "but I just happened to look up and saw a big ball of cloth crammed in my window, flapping in the wind and cussing." Kagome felt her face grow hot and said a silent thanks that the darkness concealed her blushing mortification.
Another light gust of wind blew, and Kagome was unable to suppress the shiver that crept down her spine and the huff that blew the air from her lungs. "Er," he began, "well, Miss Kagome, maybe you should go inside if you're cold, I mean-"
Kagome cut him off with a shake of her head, and she was simultaneously disappointed and horrified; disappointed that he didn't scoot over to offer his warmth, and horrified that she was craving such improper closeness with his person. "Well now that we're up here," she whispered. "are you gonna tell me why you can't go back to Denver?"
He let out a heavy sigh. "You just don't quit, do you?" When Kagome shook her head with an eager "no," he relented. "Well, about nine months ago, I was up 'round Denver after being on a cattle drive up to the railway." Kagome's thoughts came to a screeching halt. Nine months… she knew one thing that involved nine months, and it involved a whole lot of screeching and responsibility. With what seemed like a mammoth effort, she kept her cool as he continued. "I had been doing pretty well for myself, working odd jobs here and there. Then a few months back, I was playing cards with this other cowboy- we all called him 'dog breath' 'cause- well, specifics aren't important. Anyway, we was playing cards, and I caught him cheating. Well, one thing led to another, some words was exchanged, and I was summarily discharged. They didn't want a half-breed hanging 'round anyway. If I ever came back, they said they'd do a lot worse than tan my hide," Koga chuckled. Kagome was aghast.
"You can't go back… over a card game?"
"Well, that's just on the surface. It boils down to him being mad and using my being half redskin as a means to be rid of me." The bitter undertone to his voice made Kagome's stomach turn. He was chased out of town because he was part Indian, same as she… but her heart nearly leapt from her chest.
"So it wasn't a woman?" She almost cringed at how perky and hopeful her voice sounded. Koga snorted, reaching up to scratch his jaw.
"Um, no," he said with a laugh, and a titter bubbled up through Kagome's lips just as an spine-chilling scream rent the air. It was a sound like a screeching woman combined with the grating of metal on concrete. Kagome's feet scrabbled against the roof as she tried to crawl away in fright, but Koga's right arm shot out and pressed her against the wall, holding her in place. Normally Kagome would be shocked at the placement of his hand, being just above her breasts, but her eyes trained on the cougar down on the ground about fifty yards ahead of them, prowling along the dirt and gravel road in front of the yard.
Kagome froze, drawing quick, shallow breaths as Koga retracted his hand, palming and cocking the Colt resting in his lap. The cougar's eyes reflected the small moonlight in luminous disks that slowly prowled toward them. From the corner of her eye, she could just see Sota and Joseph Hopkins approaching from the left, guns resting in their arms. They didn't see the cougar, which crouched in place, its head swiveling toward the two oblivious boys. Kagome nearly gasped in horror as the cat started to slink through the grass toward her brother, and Koga slowly brought the gun up and aimed.
She could see the cat coil up, ready to spring as the unaware pair drew nearer. A horrible, piercing shriek sounded in the dark silence, and the cougar pounced as Kagome jumped to her feet without thinking, realizing that the terrible noise was coming from her own throat. She lost her footing and slipped, and Koga dove toward her, pinning her to the narrow space of roof as a loud, cracking boom echoed across the homestead. His gun slid off the wood and fell to the ground, and Kagome screeched under him as he tried to hold onto both her and the window ledge to keep them both from falling.
She squirmed, flailing her arms as Koga tried to haul her upright, and she flipped over onto her stomach and slid down the roof. Her fingers jarred as she caught the ledge of the eave, and she dangled in the air for a second before she let go, falling several feet to the ground. Her ankles cracked painfully, but she got to her feet and sprinted into the dark, Koga hot on her heels after crawling back through the window.
Hopkins was standing stock still as Kagome approached, bawling and babbling for her brother. Sota was lying on the ground, covered in a spray of blood and clutching the old Henry rifle to his chest with the cougar sprawled across his legs. Kagome grabbed under his arms and yanked, pulling him out from under the cat before slipping and falling on her back. Sota slowly sat up, and Kagome noticed through her teary eyes that the cougar was unmoving. Sota turned to her with eyes so wide she could see the whites.
It occurred to her that her brother had shot the animal just as it sprung. The rifle fell from his shaking hands, and Kagome buried her face in her hands, crying with relief. Koga stood panting, next to the terror-frozen Hopkins before walking to the siblings. Kagome lifted her head, sniffling and wiping her eyes with the corner of the shawl before wrapping it around her stunned brother's shoulders. She saw Koga's hand hover for but a second above her head before he seemed to think better of it and set to the work of dragging the corpse away.
Kagome helped Sota to his feet just as Michael came on to the scene, and she found that she hadn't the energy to address him. She just wrapped her ashen brother up in her arms and tried to get him to the house.
That, however, was changed when Mama came charging out the door with her shawl clutched at her throat and a lantern in hand. Her hair was loose and fluffed in the wind as she demanded, "What in the world happened?"
"It's my fault," Sota spoke up as tears started to run down his cheeks. Mama approached as he continued in a stream of half coherent words. "It's my fault that the colt died yesterday because I forgot to tell Koga and Michael and just figured that they'd do it so I didn't think to check on it and so it died and it's all my fault and a cougar killed it, but I got him, Mama, I shot 'im with Father's old gun, and I'm sorry because it's all my fault." He broke down in heaving sobs as Mama pursed her lips. Hopkins approached silently, his shiny, unused rifle perched on his shoulder.
"I think it best if you head on home, dear," Mama said to Hopkins, who still had a baffled expression on his face. He nodded woodenly, and went alone to fetch his horse while Mama put her hand on her boy's back and guided him inside. Kagome stood outside to catch her breath, leaning on the chipped porch railing with fingers hooked around the wood like claws. Her hair was frazzled and floating in the breeze as it came loose from her braid, and her ankles were hot with pain, most likely being sprained from the jarring impact. Hopkins spared her but one look before mounting his horse and galloping down the road.
The crunch of dirt signified that Koga was approaching, and she cast her eyes to the right to see him walking across the yard. He came to a stop in front of her, and she looked down from the stoop into his face.
"Thank you for being there," she murmured, though she wasn't quite sure why she said it. After all, he hadn't really done much in the end. She just felt the need to thank him.
He approached with hesitation, and Kagome was reminded fleetingly of her father reading aloud the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet just a week before he died, save that Kagome wasn't a fair maiden, and Koga was not her love no matter how ardently she wished it so. "…are you alright, Miss Kagome?" he asked cautiously, his hands jammed into his pockets.
She let out a heavy breath, her shoulders sagging as her head lolled forward. She could feel her lumpy braid slide over her shoulder to dangle over the railing. "Yeah, I guess I am. My mind doesn't know where to go. I mean, I'm so relieved, but I'm scared, and-"
"You don't need to be scared," he murmured back at her, and she looked up to see him tip his hat before walking back to the tack shed to catch a few hours of sleep. When she turned around, she saw her mother lingering in the doorway with the lantern. Her face did not look angry or upset. She just looked tired as she held the door open for Kagome to come inside.
I know, I know, it's about time I updated this thing. And these past few chapters are probably RIFE with spelling/grammar errors, but I'm entirely too lazy to proof-read and I have no beta. Sorry but not sorry, but still a little bit sorry.
So what do you guys think? Do you think Kagome stands a chance, or will she be perpetually thwarted by Mama/Hopkins/crazy wild animals? haha Seriously though, thank you to everyone who has stayed with me on this story, and endless thanks to all of my reviewers out there. You guys are the best!
Updating will continue to be slow, and I have midterm exams coming up in a month, complete with 3 extra books to read and 3 papers on top of my normal obscene amount of reading. Plus, the muse for my other fic (Blood is the New Black) has been whispering incessantly in my ear, so I might work on another chapter for that. Rest assured good folks, I won't abandon Strawberry Summer. I've grown far too attached to these characters to just leave them XD
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Strawberry Summer