Well, since DB reminded me that I had indeed posted the first chapter of 
this fic to the list, I thought I ought to send the second out! o.o; 

Note; there's no lime/lemon, but there is female nakedness in this 
chapter. It's not at all in a sexual context, however, but a medical one.


The Courtship of Kikyou
Summer

By Amanda Lever

Between the muggy heat and the hot summer rain, Inu-Yasha was fairly sure 
this was the worst summer ever. The clouds blotted out the sun, but the 
rain did not give one a cool shower; even when the sun was blocked, rain 
fell in hot, thick sheets from the clouds, providing no relief for the 
homeless hanyou

Inu-Yasha stood waist-deep in cool water, finding it helped abate the 
heat�s affects. He had stripped down to his fundoshi to allow his sodden 
clothing to dry after the last rain storm. This was pointless, perhaps, as 
clouds again loomed on the horizon, but at least the cool water felt good 
compared to the heat, and his fire-rat clothing would dry quickly.

And it served another purpose: while his clothes dried, he could fish for 
his dinner.

Inu-Yasha was like any other predator; standing still like the crane, 
watching the water. His breathing was so steady, so even, it moved with 
the wind rushing against the water, making it lap against his bare belly 
in time with the rise and fall of his chest.

And then, much like the white crane, he struck!

A clawed hand darted out and he felt a scaled body slide against his palm -
- where a mortal man would have lost the fish, Inu-Yasha had extra grip; 
his claws, turned with their points toward his palm, became a deadly trap 
for the poor fish that would become his supper.

It wriggled in his hand, thick tail batting against his wrist, but he held 
it aloft triumphantly. So what if 'mighty barehanded fisherman' wasn't as 
impressive a title as Sesshoumaru's 'Lord of the Western Lands'; it kept 
food in his belly, where Sesshoumaru could hardly eat a lordship.

He tossed the fish to the others on the bank; they were small and it would 
take one or two more to satiate his hunger.

Once two more fish were caught in the same manner -- waiting eyes, darting 
hands, splashing water, triumphant hanyou -- he began to slosh back to the 
bank, eager to dry off and not feel the mud under his toe claws. 

However, he hadn't expected to see the woman on the banks.

He stopped there, up to his thighs in water, soaked and holding a fish in 
one hand.

Kikyou, on the other hand, was dry and impeccable as always, a broad 
bamboo hat covering her head, held steady by one hand. 

"Inu-Yasha," she greeted gently, her eyes finding his before demurely 
turning away. 

"Kikyou," he answered with far less confidence then he had felt seconds 
ago, tossing fish to the bank. 

For a moment, he didn't under stand why she wouldn't look at him; her gaze 
shyly averted. But as he felt his soaked fundoshi chill him slightly in 
the air, he realized she was probably uncomfortable with his near 
nakedness. He didn't understand why; all men, even half-demons, were built 
the same, weren't they?

He continued to plow through the water, heedless of the truth of her 
discomfort, and then to where his clothes were on the bank. He ducked 
behind the rock to change his clothing, the wet fundoshi discarded to dry 
where it couldn't be seen.

Her voice echoed over the rocks, gentle as always. "I see you have kept 
yourself busy, Inu-Yasha." 

"Gotta eat," he replied with a snort as he finished dressing, before 
scrambling up onto one of the rocks to take a seat. "I didn't expect you 
to come out with a storm so close."

"But that's why I'm here," she said. "We are not so near the coast that we 
must greatly fear typhoon, but still, the rainy season is fierce this 
year."

She was coming to something he wouldn't like, he was sure of it.

"I was wondering if you might come to the temple while till the storming 
passes."

That was not what he expected. He was so stunned he nearly slid from his 
seat, only catching himself leaning to far forward at the last moment. 

Finally, he found words. 

"Did you just ask me to come and stay at the temple?" he couldn't manage 
to find the proper level of shock to convey.

"Yes," she said simply.

He stared at her with open bafflement; his eyes wide, his mouth agape, his 
ears cocked forward.

�...Why?�

�Because you would be safer there. It would only be you, my sister, and I.�

For a moment, his mind completely skipped �my sister� and thought he was 
being asked for something entirely different! His cheeks burned as he 
replayed the request in his mind, but then he remembered: 

�Your sister?�

Kikyou nodded serenely, apparently not put off by his bewildered reactions.

�You have a sister?� he asked, hopping down from his perch to sit in the 
grass, crouching at her feet.

�Yes,� Kikyou replied as she kneeled down beside him. �My only blood 
relative, Kaede. She and I were given to the temple to be raised as miko 
when we were young.�

�Hmph.� Inu-Yasha tried to imagine what a sister of Kikyou must be like, 
but he couldn�t fathom it. He was nothing like Sesshoumaru, his elder 
brother, so why would this girl-child be anything like Kikyou? And what 
about Kikyou, anyway? What sort of sister was she?

�Are you good to your sister?� he asked.

Kikyou�s dark eyes flickered to his and she asked, ��Good to my sister�? 
What do you mean?�

Inu-Yasha flushed again, this time with guilt. He�d gone and compared 
Kikyou to Sesshoumaru in his heart! How could he have compared the kind, 
lovely miko to the cold-hearted youkai?

...When had she become kind and lovely?!

Kikyou was still staring at him, confused as he looked everywhere but at 
her, shifting this way and that. When it became clear that Inu-Yasha was 
not going to answer her, she reached out to touch his cheek, garnering an 
instant reaction.  

He froze on the spot, eyes wide and fixed on her. Again, his mouth was 
open, his ears turned forward, in complete shock. But he didn�t move, he 
didn�t even breathe.

She was touching him again.

She hadn�t dared to do so since her hand had brushed his months ago at the 
day of the planting ceremony, he�d not let her get close enough until now. 
He�d been on his guard against that spasm in his chest that occurred 
whenever she was near.

But it was there again, stronger then ever. 

Her fingers were warm and slightly rough from handling her bow, the 
fletching of her arrows. When he dared to take a breath, he found they 
smelt slightly of old incense, and that indefinable thing that sang 
Kikyou, Kikyou, Kikyou, when she trespassed in the woods he�d claimed. 

No one had touched him so tenderly in his life. Her callused thumb 
caressed over his cheekbone in a way he was certain was intentional, and 
caused heat to flood his face. His heart clenched again and for a moment, 
he wasn�t sure if he was looking into her eyes or into the night sky.

�Inu-Yasha?� her voice penetrated the haze, and he blinked his eyes, 
staring into her own. She was so close; he could smell that sweetness that 
was her, and it was stronger then the water, or the wood, or the fish 
getting cold on the bank. That subtle thing, incense and medicinal herbs, 
arrows and her skin, the fingers so rough compared to the soft curve of 
her face.

She said his name again, and this time his mind focused. She was touching 
him, and she shouldn�t. He knew, at once, that the strange thing that made 
his heart clench, it was forbidden. 

�No,� he said abruptly, jerking out of her reach. �I don�t need your pity. 
Rain won�t hurt me.�

She drew her hand back, uncertain in the face of his odd reactions. 

Inu-Yasha rose from his crouch and stepped away from her, and he mustered 
up the best scowl he could give her.

�Go give your sister your time. I don�t need it,� he said. He rubbed his 
knuckles against his face, as if he might scrape away the feeling of her 
hand, the lingering scent that taunted his nose.

Her expression turned steely as his harsh dismissal. She rose and without 
preamble said, �I shall, then.� 

She left him and his cold fish, the storm getting closer. She�d have to 
boat across the lake; there were two small boats for the lake, and she�s 
probably used one to get across.

He found himself, despite his play at anger, hoping she made it across the 
lake alright.

But then he was determined to not care.

He gathered up his fish and headed away. The rocky hills were seeded with 
many caves and hiding places, and he�d claimed one overlooking the lake 
for his �den� while he was living here. Far enough from the village that 
the Shikon was not a constant temptation, and close enough to the lake 
that he could boat across if the whim took him at any time. There he began 
to prepare his fish as he heard the storm rumble over head. The mouth was 
low, while there were natural vents for air above. He�d created a small 
nest for himself from the tanned hides of his prey, and while it was 
hardly luxury, it was home for now.

It the raging thunder rolled over head; water gathered at the mouth of the 
cave; it trickled down the vents in the roof and Inu-Yasha stayed warm 
with his cook fire and his fish, eating and trying to dispel the image of 
Kikyou, so angry, before she left.

Who cared if she was angry? She didn�t have the right to be so 
temperamental! He didn�t want her pity or her soft hand on his face...

He snorted softly, and then shook off his thought, his eyes narrowing as 
he tossed the stick he�d been roasting his fish on into the fire. 

�Damn woman!� he shouted at the empty air. �I don�t need your damned pity!�

But it wasn�t pity, some tiny voice. She doesn�t look at you sadly.

His shouts died in his throat, and he slumped back against the furs he 
made his bed in. He folded his arms over the back of his head, and then 
found himself wondering if she made it across the lake in the storm.

It took at least half an hour to cross the lake. The storm had been raging 
that long, now, and had started right after she left. She�d been caught in 
it, certainly.

Something cold settled in the pit of Inu-Yasha�s stomach, dispelling the 
contentment that had settled with his meal, and the anger that had 
followed.

Did she make it across? It would be simple enough to look; his cave 
overlooked the lake, he could look across the lake and see from one end to 
the other, so it was little effort to simply climb out of his warm furs 
and trot down to the damp opening of the cave and peer out, holding his 
hands over his eyes to shield them from the spray.

He saw one boat at the dock still; bobbing wildly in the wind churned 
water. Sweeping his gaze over the waters, he wondered how far Kikyou made 
it in these winds, with the water so wild.

Not very far, he surmised, when he saw the second boat capsized, midway to 
the other side.

Capsized.

Where was Kikyou?

That cold spread from his belly; it reached icy fingers through his veins, 
his guts, chilling the air in his lungs and making his extremities tremble 
as it sucked the heat right out of them. 

Before he knew it, he was running for the dock, leaving the safety of his 
cave for the wild storm raging outside. He wasn�t even aware of the water 
as it pelted his skin or the sound of his already wet haori hitting the 
planks as he threw it off. He dove into the water, knowing instinctively 
the second boat would never carry him out on the waters in the raging of 
the tempest. 

Cold air suddenly burned in his lungs as he dove beneath the surface, 
where the water was less wild. He broke the surface only to breathe, 
golden eyes scanning the rain-beaten lake to find the overturned boat 
spinning in the wind. He dove beneath again and continued to swim. His 
clothing slowed him down, but his unnatural strength propelled him forward 
despite it. 

Kikyou, Kikyou, Kikyou.

Something was ahead in the dark water; something red, dangling and still; 
white accompanied it. Her hakama, her kimono, sodden, but not sinking. He 
swam up under her body and then surfaced beside her.

Her head was tilted back, her face white, but she breathed. Luck had saved 
the miko of the Shikon no Tama, for her sleeve was caught upon the lip of 
the boat, keeping her head above water. But her brow was bloodied, and he 
was unsure how to move her.

Finally, he cut her sleeve free of the jagged lip of the boat, and took in 
one arm. He�d never swam anywhere with a weight, so this would certainly 
be different. He kept her under one arm, and then pushed the boat with 
them, swimming back the way he came blindly. Occasionally he had to stop, 
lift the boat and see that they were on the right track, but he kept going 
forward, making himself stay on course.

Kikyou�s breathing was soft, even under the protective cap of the boat, 
and the cold water that had once offered relief now numbed his limbs. 
Still he worked, lungs burning, muscles screaming for relief.

When he finally saw the bank, he took a gulp of breath, covered Kikyou�s 
mouth and nose with his hand, and dove beneath the water again, carrying 
her with him. A moment later, they surface and he plowed up the bank, 
carrying her with him, shifting her weight in his arms. 

He didn�t grab his haori from the docks; he was too busy hefting the women 
in his arms up the hill toward the cave; the fire still burned, though it 
had gotten low, and the space was still warm. He laid her down on soft 
earth beneath the ceiling of stone and pondered her pale form.

For a moment, he didn�t know what to do.

Then he realized he had to get her out of those wet clothes. He did not 
hesitate at first, opening her kimomo and carefully drawing her limbs free 
of it, but when he found her torso wrap, he didn�t know what to make of 
it. Of course she�d wrap and bind her breasts, like any woman, but� 

He found where they tied, and propped her body in his arms; his shook from 
the cold and the wet, but he ignored it, removing it in haste. It was only 
once she was laid back down that he stopped and looked at her.

He�d never seen a woman bared.

He swallowed down the wild confusion that welled up within him at the 
sight of her nudity, and then continued in his work. If she froze in those 
wet clothes, she�d die. If she died, he�d die with her.

�Kikyou,� he breathed, �Kikyou, Kikyou.� Her name was called gently, 
through chattering teeth, and he finished with her clothes without another 
pause. The rest of her was just as fascinating and mysterious as the 
first, but there was a wrongness to seeing her inert body as anything 
other then damaged. He couldn�t admire her beauty when she was nearly 
drowned and frozen to death in the cold waters of the lake. He wrung out 
her hair, and he hung up her clothing, but still, she was pale as death.

Once he had wrapped her body in the furs did he take care of his own, wet 
clothing. He stripped to bareness himself, hanging up his clothes, and 
stoked the fire   and then sat beside the bed of furs, taking Kikyou�s arm 
between his hands and rubbing the flesh, hoping her blood would flow, her 
skin would warm. He saw color begin to return to her flesh, and took hope. 

He was still, however, freezing. Parts of him shriveled, the rest of him 
shook. Finally, he gave in. Kikyou would simply have to share her 
nakedness, warmth and the bed of furs with her savior. 

He thanked whatever gods watched over hanyou as he burrowed into the furs, 
drawing her slowly warming body against his, that she�d not brought her 
bow and arrows when she�d come to see him.

Then, with her nestled against his side, one arm around her, he allowed 
exhaustion to claim him, dragging him down beneath the dark, dreaming of 
miko suspended in the water, floating, floating...

He would have been content to float forever, had the warmth of his bed not 
begun to move. He woke to an elbow jabbing him in the side, the furs 
sliding down his chest as his companion in warmth began to rouse.

Kikyou groaned softly, her voice thick with drowsiness, and she tried to 
free her arms from the heavy layers. However, she was unprepared to see 
Inu-Yasha propping himself up besides her, as she gasped sharply, dark 
eyes focusing in on his.

�Inu-Yasha?�

�Shh. You�re alright,� he said as gently as he could. �I saw your boat 
capsized, and I went out after you.� 

Her hands smoothed over the furs, listening despite her confusion. Then 
she realized that she felt skin against her own, it seemed, for she 
stilled when she felt Inu-Yasha�s bare flesh against her arm.

�My clothes,� she whispered numbly.

�They�re drying with mine.�

�With yours?� 

�Yeah.�

Inu-Yasha watched as she focused in on him a few seconds more, her cheeks 
flushing suddenly, before she again sank into unconsciousness.

He blinked. 

That had not been an expected reaction, but it wasn�t as bad as it could 
have been, he supposed. 

He stayed beside her a while longer, enjoying the feel of her body beside 
his. It was nice; just soft enough, and finally warm. Allowing himself to 
doze, he stayed near her for some time longer, as the steady drip of rain 
and the crackle of the fire kept them company. 

However, Inu-Yasha knew he couldn�t lay idle forever; there was a fire to 
be tended, their clothes to be dried. While Kikyou still slept, he dragged 
himself free grudgingly. He staggered over to check his clothes; the fire-
rat skins always dried quickly, and his other clothes seemed dry enough, 
so he dressed while he could. Kikyou�s clothes were also nicely dried, but 
he allowed them to remain hanging till she woke. There was some fish left; 
he set that to cooking over the fire, and put more kindling on it, to keep 
it going.

The fish were done cooking when Kikyou moved next.

He rose from his seat as she stirred. Her eyes opened again, finding his.

�Inu-Yasha?� 

�Hey.� He wondered if they�d have a repeat of the last time.

It seemed unlikely, as she grabbed her blankets and tugged them closer 
around her body.

�My clothes,� she murmured, �are they dry?�

�They are now,� Inu-Yasha replied, getting up to fetch them. She took them 
in hand gently, and sat up slowly, holding the fire-warmed cloth to her 
chest. 

�Can you turn around? Till I bid you otherwise?� 

He blinked, not understanding at first, but then shrugged, and went back 
to the fire, leaving his back to the miko. He heard the rustle of 
clothing, the shift of the furs. She was dressing herself, he gathered, 
but didn�t want him to see. What was the point? He�d already seen her 
naked.

�So you saved my life,� she murmured. 

He wanted to see her face, read her expression. Her sound and scent said 
so much, but he wanted to see it, too. See the awe dawn in her eyes, the 
feeling of security settle there.

�Are you�� What was the word? �Decent?�

�Yes,� she finally said, and rose as he turned too look at her. Her 
clothing was rumpled and stained from it�s long soak and it�s time near 
the fire, but she was still Kikyou.

�You can stay until the storm passes,� Inu-Yasha offered slowly.

�Pity, Inu-Yasha?� Kikyou asked him, as she moved to join him by the fire. 
He felt his heart clench, again, as she came within reach of his hands.

She was warm and soft, he knew that now. And he wanted to feel that again, 
that security he had with her body there, warming against his, that sweet 
heat that sank into his bones and kept him warm even though his body was 
wet and tired.

�No,� he said, after a moment�s hesitation. �I don�t pity you at all.�

She smiled again, without sadness, and reached up to touch his cheek 
again, and he bent down under its touch. 

When she spoke again, he barely heard he words. Her voice was pure magic, 
he decided. Was it a holy spell she wove, to bind him with the gentle 
tones of her voice?

�Do you love me, Inu-Yasha?�

�I don�t know what love is,� he whispered in a rush, his hands finding her 
arms, as she stepped in nearer to him.

�Could you learn?� she asked. Her face eclipsed his view, its pale circle 
blotting out everything.

�Will you teach me?� he asked. Was that his voice, so small and timid?

�If you�ll let me,� she replied

His voice hitched in his chest, but then she was on her toes, her hand 
sliding from his cheek into his hair, his hands were sliding over her 
arms, to her back, holding her like he�d never held anyone before, clumsy 
and unsure. But she was guiding him to her, like he was as simply bent to 
her purpose as one of her arrows was cocked and drawn.

The kiss was small, sweet, and chaste, but it set his blood to racing. The 
clench around his heart tightened, and then shattered with the force of 
it�s wild tattoo. What had been caged was released, and he didn�t even 
realize it.

Forbidden, he realized, at the lake side. It was forbidden. 

Love.

Love was the forbidden thing.

For who, indeed, would love a hanyou?

He broke away with sudden fear, his eyes wild and bright. His heart 
wouldn�t start pounding; he almost feared that it would break free of his 
ribs, shatter him here and now. With a startled thrust of his arms, he 
drove her back from him, gulping down air into his hungry lungs as he 
staggered backward.

�Inu-Yasha!� she cried out, reaching for him, but he wouldn�t let her 
close. Another touch, another spell, he�d be undone, undone and what would 
be left of him?

�No!� he cried hoarsely. �No! You�re� you�re human! This is� this is some 
foul trick!� he denied her, watching it shatter her hope, the face that 
had just been the entirety of his world crumbling before his eyes. �A 
trick! You can�t love me! Hanyou cannot be loved by a� a miko! No one 
loves hanyou! NO ONE!�

He said nothing more, then, and turned to flee. His toe claws bit into the 
earth as his feet pushed him forward, turning and jumping down the ledge 
to the lower level of his cave. He bolted out into the rain, and ran 
blindly.

He didn�t know where he was going. He just knew he had to get away. Away 
from that thing she was offering, that he couldn�t have. 

How could a miko teach a hanyou to love? 

How could anyone? 


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