71Don't You Know Who I Think I Am?
Chapter One: I Don't Need You
Sweet night scents, luscious and vibrant, filled his nose and mouth as he rushed by. The familiar smells and sounds melted around his speeding form - but the quiet familiarity did nothing to calm his mounting nerves, suspicion, and (although he hated to admit it, even to himself) fear.
'I shouldn't have let her wander off by herself, that stupid girl…' he thought to himself with clenched teeth. Even the comfortable weight of Tetsusaiga at his hip did nothing to settle his stomach. Why couldn't he find her scent among the habitual scents of the forest? Did she go back home? He really hated it when she left him to go back to her own time, although he wasn't sure why, exactly…
He made a powerful leap and landed on the lip of the well….
"What did I even do to piss you off this time?" He asked the darkness resting in the depths of the old well. He sniffed the air and searched for her. A light rain had fallen and masked her scent, frustrating him to no end. He relied too heavily on his sense of smell.
But no, it didn't seem as though she had traveled through the well. His stomach clenched painfully. So, Kagome was wandering around the forest alone, in the dead of night.
His golden eyes glinted, bright and fierce in the dull moonlight. He crouched down low to the well, tapping into the youkai side of his blood, hoping it would help him locate his missing wench. There, just on the edges of his senses, something feminine and soothing; the cloying scent that he knew so well. He inhaled deeply. So, she had been near the well, but did not enter it.
"Stupid wench," He muttered as he followed the maze of scents that winded around him. Something strange in the air hit him like a brick wall. Something unnatural and dangerous and demonic mixing with Kagome.
"Shit." He cursed loudly and took off at a maddening pace. What had that girl gotten herself into now? Anger and guilt flooded through him, neither sensation welcome. She was under his protection, and in a stupid fit of pride and anger he had let her go off alone, unprotected. She hadn't even taken her bow and arrows.
The wind whipped his long hair back as he sped furiously through the air, his feet barely touching the damp grass below him.
As his body traveled, so did his mind. Instead of letting his mind go into dark places, wondering if Kagome was hurt, scared, or even….dead, he forced himself to think of something else.
His blood felt burning hot, then ice cold in his veins, and he made himself think back.
He and his strange pack were all resting around the camp fire, enjoying a lull in their hunt for Naraku and the remaining shards while they regrouped and rested their exhausted bodies at Kaede's village. Sango, Miroku, and Shippou had just slipped off to sleep when Inuyasha had noticed Kagome was still awake. Her breathing was abnormal, and she was shifting in her sleeping bag. Sadness clung to her scent, he realized as he watched her stare dejectedly into the flames of the fire.
Her unhappiness was a kick in the gut, and he couldn't help but take it as a personal insult. He had always wondered if she were happy being in this time, with him and all that it entailed. So, she wasn't happy here?
Fine. He didn't want her here anyways. Irrationality overtook him, and he jumped down soundlessly from his perch in a nearby tree.
He remembered approaching her angrily, and them exchanging quiet insults back in forth until he had taken it too far and she had charged off into the night. Because of him.
"I don't need you."
That's what he had told her. Guilt. Regret. He hated feeling those things…
"I don't need her." He whispered to himself, almost as a reminder. "I don't need anyone."
Kagome was under his protection, as his personal jewel shard detector, and therefore it was an insult to his pride if something were to happen to her. That was the reason he was so eager to find her.
Minutes later he came upon a place where her scent thickened and pooled. Then he found something there that sent a shock of fear to his very core: blood.
A/N:
Okay, so this should be a fairly short story. Maybe four or five chapters. It was originally a one shot but I decided it would be better to cut it up into chapters. So, thank you for reading and please review. Any response will be greatly appreciated.
Edit: Currently combing through this fic and trying to edit the best I can. Mostly just spelling/grammar errors and cleaning up here and there. Fleshing out a few places that were a little sparse. Sorry if this happens to flood some inboxes. This is my oldest fanfiction and it's rather dear to my heart even though it's not my favorite work. Sorry for any inconvenience!
Thanks for reading!