Chapter Text
When the demon had disappeared completely, Sango and Miroku hadn’t wasted any time rushing to the collapsed dressing room, throwing rubble away from the scene to clear a path, trying to move carefully to avoid causing a cave-in. They had moved faster when they heard Kagome’s screams. When they lifted a large piece of drywall out of the way, the early light of pre-dawn had illuminated the scene before them. Inuyasha, with his skin too pale and his hair too dark. Blood on his hands, on the ground around him, on Kagome. And Kagome, face contorted in pain, arrows scattered around her, cradling an unresponsive body to her chest and screaming loud enough to wake the judges of the dead.
They had tried to move her – move them both – out of the rubble, into the clear air of the morning, but Kagome had fought them. She screamed and kicked, doing anything in her power to not let go on Inuyasha, as if her touch was the only thing keeping his soul tethered to the earth. Kagome was mostly wailing now, her voice failed to form words but her sobs told the story of a boy she knew too little about.
“Kagome,” Miroku said, kneeling down beside her in the rubble.
“No, no, no, no,” Kagome chanted, shaking her head. She didn’t want to hear it; she couldn’t stand to hear it right now.
“All we can do for him now is pray,” Miroku said gently. Inuyasha had told him once, the night his secret was discovered, that the transformation was only temporary, that he returned to his half-demon state at dawn of the next morning. For a half-demon, a wound like this would be inconvenient, but not impossible to survive. He looked to the east, and said a silent prayer as the first light of dawn broke over the horizon.
For a too long and heavy moment, the air was still, there was no movement besides Kagome’s shuddering body, no sound but her heartbreaking sobs. And then – a pulse. If Kagome felt it, she made no indication. Miroku stood as he felt the second pulse of energy sweep through the area. Slowly, starting from the blood-soaked tips, Inuyasha’s hair began to lighten. His nails lengthened into claws and his dog ears flicked back into existence, as if some unseen hand had been holding them flat. This is what initially caught Kagome’s attention, one of his ears brushed against her face.
Tears still falling freely over her cheeks, Kagome pulled herself back, extending her arms to look at Inuyasha’s face, to notice the fangs that had returned to his slightly open mouth. “Inuyasha,” she breathed, barely daring to speak, as if by speaking she might break the spell that transformed him.
A beat. A moment, then two. Then, a sigh escaped his lips and his face scrunched in recognition of his pain.
“Inuyasha,” she’d cried, a little louder than before, “Inuyasha you’re alive?”
His eyes had opened then, finally, just enough to reveal clear golden irises. “Kagome?”
“Oh Inuyasha,” she cried again, her tears renewing in her gratitude. Carefully, oh so carefully, she pulled him back into her chest, folding herself over him so that he might be moved as little as possible, and whispered, “I thought I’d lost you.”
Kagome, you cried for me? His lips tried to form the words but his body was too weak for the moment. Or at least, that’s what he told himself. He was hurt quite badly but it would only take a few days to recover in his current state. All too soon, Kagome was peeling off of him, moving back to reveal the relieved faces of Sango and Miroku as well. We made it, he thought to himself.
What filled the next few minutes was a careful dance of Inuyasha being lifted out the rubble and negotiating the way back to their room. He’d insisted that he was fine to walk, but his legs had protested otherwise. He’d then insisted that his sword was support enough, but no one believed him at that point. Miroku had taken up supporting him under his right arm, and Sango, who had an inch or two on Kagome, took up the support under this left, and the two had practically carried him back to the room and laid him out on the bed. Thankful for a soft spot to rest, though he would never admit to it, Inuyasha allowed his eyes to drift closed while the others bustled around him, gathering towels and fetching first aid kits. The mornings after the new moon were usually difficult for Inuyasha. Although as a half-demon, staying up all night was minor inconvenience, and usually solved on patrols by entering a dozing half-awake state for a period of time, it was more taxing to stay up as a human. Combine that with a near death experience and Inuyasha could feel his exhaustion sitting on him like a heavy blanket. When he opened his eyes and found the room silent and empty, save for Kagome resting her head on crossed arms at the edge of his mattress, bleary eyes watching him carefully, he knew he must’ve fallen asleep.
“Hey,” Kagome said, picking up her head, “Are you awake this time?”
He guessed he must’ve opened his eyes a few times already. Miroku had told him once he tended to do that in his sleep. “Yeah,” he said, his voice coming out more gravely than he had anticipated.
“Miroku and Sango went to explain what happened to the owner and settle up everything,” she explained. Ahh, he thought. So they were alone. “I cleaned up the wound in your stomach,” she continued, “Miroku says that half-demons have superior healing powers so he thinks you’ll be okay in a few days but I didn’t want to take any chances with it getting infected.”
“Why . . .”
“Why did I clean your wounds?”
“Why did you cry for me?”
Kagome blushed and looked away, hair falling across her shoulder and obscuring her face. He wanted to push it away, but he didn’t trust his hand. His claws could still scratch her, still scare her. Perhaps she had only cried and held him close because his body had been human.
“Because I was scared,” she said her voice barely a whisper. “I was scared that I lost you.”
“You don’t even know me.”
She turned back to him, her brown eyes locking onto his with a clear and steady gaze. “I know enough. And I want to know more.”
Inuyasha felt a familiar warmth rise up in his chest. Warmth he hadn’t felt in a long time. But with it rose familiar doubts, scars and a painful memory of a night that had changed everything for him.
“Last night,” Kagome said, her voice interrupting Inuyasha’s thoughts, “was the first time you said my name.” Inuyasha’s train of thought crashed to a stop. Huh? “Before then, you kept calling me Kikyo. But last night you called my name when you broke out of the dressing rooms. You were trying to protect me because you heard me scream and didn’t know what was going on. And then I tried to protect you,” she said, her voice starting to quiver with the threat of more tears. “And I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.” Her hands, oh so close to his own, gripped the bed sheets as she fought to control her emotions. “When I thought you’d died, I-”
He wanted to touch her. Wanted to hold her hand, even if it was just for a moment. Instead he asked, “Would you give it up, if you had to?”
Her brows had knit together at that. “What do you mean?”
“This is the first job you’ve had right?” Kagome nodded, confused. “If you had to leave it," no that’s not what he needed to say, “If someone you cared about asked you-” Fuck, why was this so difficult?
“Inuyasha what is it?” He took in her red-rimmed and puffy brown eyes, her long wavy black hair, the way her breath still hiccupped occasionally as she tried not to cry.
“If you had to give up someone you cared about or leave your life’s work, what would you choose?” He couldn’t meet her eyes when he asked. He couldn’t watch the emotions fly across her face before she said she’d leave him behind. He was dreading that cold, miserable feeling in his gut that would set in when she said it. But it was better to know now. No sense in getting his hopes up again.
“Why would I have to choose?”
His eyes snapped up to meet hers. “What?”
“Why would I have to choose,” she repeated. “Why can’t I have both?”
“If . . . well if you, if you had – if something happens and you had to choose between someone you cared for and your work, which would you choose?”
Kagome was silent for a long time, her eyes searching his, even as he avoided meeting her eye, searching for some answer he couldn’t communicate. Finally he saw realization dawn on her face and he braced himself for the worst.
“That’s what Kikyo asked you, didn’t she?” His eyes snapped to hers. “She wanted to quit, and she asked you to quit with her, didn’t she?”
Inuyasha’s gaze fell again. She had seen right through his plan, of course she had, he was stupid to think he could’ve fooled her. Of course, she’d take Kikyo’s side, they were cousins after all. He didn’t deserve someone like that, someone like Kagome. Kikyo had been clear on that front. He was selfish and cowardly and that’s all he would ever be.
“Inuyasha that’s not a choice I could make,” Kagome said.
“Kagome, stop, you don’t-”
“Because there isn’t a choice there,” she interrupted. “I don’t have to give up either one. Even if something happens and I don’t want to be a slayer anymore, that wouldn’t change how I feel about someone.” He tried to catch her gaze but she was avoiding looking at him, instead focusing on her hands on the edge of the mattress. “Inuyasha I could never ask you to stop doing this just because I got tired of it, that wouldn’t be fair. I could quit, and I could worry about you, about your safety,” she trailed her fingers lightly across the back of his hand, touching the tips of his claws, “I might be scared for you, but if I asked you to stop just because I was scared, it just wouldn’t work. If you did you’d come to resent me for asking, or I’d feel guilty about making you give up something so important just for me. I could never ask you to do that.” Kagome let her words settle down around Inuyasha like a blanket, letting him fully absorb them before she stood up and said, “You must be tired, I’ll let you get some rest. I can tell Miroku that you’re doing okay now.”
“Kagome,” he said, catching her fingers before she moved out of reach. “Will you stay? Just – for a little while?”
Kagome hesitated, then said, “Of course, Inuyasha,” and sat back down in her chair next to the bed. Inuyasha was still holding the tips of her fingers as his eyes closed and he fell asleep again.
The rest of the day had passed in a blur of unimportant events. Inuyasha immediately resumed his tough attitude when Miroku and Sango came back and by afternoon he was already sitting up and barking orders at Miroku for what paperwork would need to be filled out or how their bags should be repacked. Sango had shared that the owner wasn’t too happy with the additional damage to the onsen but was more relieved that the demon had been dealt with completely. Miroku had handled the negotiations and had secured both companies a comfortable payout, as well as an offer for the four of them to return for a more relaxing visit in the future. They agreed to stay one final night, officially under the pretense of making sure no other demon caused trouble, but secretly so that Inuyasha could continue resting.
The next morning, they checked out and found themselves parting ways at the train station. The boys would be heading back to the west and the girls were headed slightly south so they prepared to make their goodbyes.
“You know, Inuyasha,” Sango said, extending her hand, “You’re not half bad as a fighter. Let me know if you ever want a sparring partner and I’ll come up there kick your ass for an afternoon.”
Inuyasha let out a surprised, “Keh! Like a human like you could do any damage against me.”
“You’d be surprised; I bet I could hold my own. And I bet I could take you down on your human night.”
Inuyasha smirked and grasped Sango’s hand. “You’re on, slayer girl.”
Meanwhile Miroku had opened his arms to offer Kagome a goodbye hug. She made a questioning face and quirked an eyebrow at him, to which he replied, “No funny stuff, I promise.” So she’d cautiously stepped in to a surprisingly warm hug. “Thanks for all you did for Inuyasha, Kagome. Don’t give up on him just yet; I think you two might really have something.”
Kagome smiled as they pulled apart, “I won’t. Not yet at least.” She smiled as Miroku made a show of clasping one of her hands in both of his, winking as he subtly slipped Inuyasha’s number into her palm, then turning his attention to Sango, who regarded him with a suspicious stare.
“So you’re gonna take on Inuyasha, I hear,” he said, sidling up next to her.
“So what if I am?”
“Oh just thinking you might need a referee there to call the shots.”
“Well it’s not like I can stop you. Probably good we have someone else there to clean up after I wipe the floor with him.”
“Excellent. Then it’s a date. I’ll see you next month, Sango,” Miroku said coolly as he sidled away towards his and Inuyasha’s train platform.
Sango sputtered a bit before managing to get out, “Miroku, you jerk!” and stormed off in the direction of her own train platform, leaving Kagome and Inuyasha alone for a few last moments.
Inuyasha scuffed his shoe on the ground nervously, avoiding looking at Kagome. “Hey,” he started. “I should-”
“Inuyasha,” she interrupted, “Are you feeling better now? Your wounds are healing okay?”
“Yeah,” he said, placing a hand on his stomach and feeling the bandages wrapped underneath. “Doubt it’ll even scar. Should be totally healed in another day or two.”
Kagome made a humming noise, “Perhaps it would be good if I still came up to check on you sometime, though. I’d feel bad if there were any lasting effects from me, you know, stabbing you with a sacred arrow.”
Kagome, come see him? “Yeah, sure, if you want.” Stupid, stupid, stupid, say something less lame!
“Cool. Oh and thanks for looking out for me this weekend. I appreciate it but I want you to know that I can take care of myself, too.”
“Yeah, I – uh – I realize that now.”
“Good,” Kagome said, “If you find yourself down south my way you should come by the training camp and see me in action.”
Is she asking me out? Inuyasha’s brain felt like it was turning to pudding.
The PA system overhead announced the arrival of Kagome and Sango’s train arriving momentarily. “Well, that’s me,” she said. “Come see me soon, okay?” Before she could lose her nerve, Kagome stretched up and gave a quick peck to Inuyasha’s cheek. Inuyasha was helpless to do anything but stare after her as she disappeared up the stairs towards her platform. Moving on autopilot, he turned and climbed the stairs to his own platform, finding Miroku scrolling through his phone while he waited for their train to arrive.
“So, judging by the lack of yelling, I’d say your goodbye with Kagome went smoothly?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Inuyasha said blankly.
“So, when’s your next date?”
“Date? What are you talking about?”
“Well you asked her out, didn’t you?”
“What the hell are you talking about, Miroku?”
“Seriously? You’ve been making big moon-eyes at her since you woke up yesterday, and you didn’t ask her on a date?”
“Why would I do that, it’s not like she likes me like that or nothin’.”
Miroku just sighed heavily, “I should’ve known, you’ve never been good at reading the mood; I don’t know why I thought you’d be different this time.”
“Listen you idiot,” Inuyasha started, however he was interrupted by the arrival of their train to the platform. Miroku knew when to sidestep a fight and so kept his mouth shut as they boarded and began their travel home. Inuyasha turned the thought over in his mind a few times, Kagome might like him? No, that couldn’t be true. But when his phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number, he caught Miroku’s smirk out of the corner of his eye. He opened the message anyway which read “Hey, it’s Kagome ♥” and just for a moment he let the little voice inside him ask, But what if she did?