Summer Storm by Chie

Summer Storm

Chie:  This is an independent sequel to my earlier one shot Spring Rain.

Now, I don’t normally do sequels, but I was inspired. This summer was unusually hot up here in the north. One newspaper article named it the “hottest summer in living memory”, and I can’t help but to agree. The thunderstorms have as well been exceptionally disastrous.

I worked on this all summer long, mainly because I had hard time trying to decide how explicit I wanted to make it. In the end, I still couldn’t bring myself to write a proper and full lemon scene. (Rated MA just to be safe.)

Word count: 4056

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and its characters belong to their creator, Takahashi Rumiko-sensei. I'm making absolutely no profit at all by exploiting these characters that do not belong to me. I'm just a penniless fanfiction authoress(wanna-be).

Summer Storm

Kagome raised her hand to wipe off the droplets of sweat glistening on her brow. She felt the swell of a wind, its blow was rather strong when it touched her bare arms and legs, playfully tossing her black locks around as it went. Still, despite the wind’s best efforts, its brief whisper on her skin did not grant her the sweet sensation of coolness that she was so desperately longing for. Rather, the touch of the wind was like a warm breath on her skin, heating her body up even more.

The summer was in its prime, and for over a week now there had been a heat wave making Kagome’s life utterly miserable. The merciless beat of the sunrays on her made her feel listless and lethargic, and she was in no mood for Inuyasha’s insistent shard-hunting. She hated to travel along the dried-up roads, each step creating a new cloud of dust, which would make her throat dry and the dust would stuck to her sweaty skin. The heat was enveloping her from all around. It was like being caught up in a tight embrace. The heat was smothering her; it was invading every nook and cranny of her being. In a state nearing desperation, she dreamed about eating ice cream by the pool, or lying at the floor of her room while letting the electric fan whirr excitedly as it would cool her down.

But she would be granted no such relief. Inuyasha was relentless in his obsession of chasing after the jewel shards so that he could defeat Naraku. He would not let Kagome go, especially so when her “only” reason for leaving would be because she was feeling too damn uncomfortable in the heat.

She had begun to hate the sun. Its shine was so bright that it had been making her head ache, until in one of the villages they had passed, a farmer had given her a sugegasa. Sure, the combination of her modern summer clothes and the traditional pointed straw hat wasn’t too chic, but she preferred looking ridiculous to a full-blown throbbing head ache any time. The hat had become absolutely irreplaceable and she simply couldn’t walk in the sun without its protection.

The sun truly was a merciless and oppressive enemy. Even in the shadow the heat was only barely bearable, but under the light of the sun it instantly became thousand folds worse. The glowing rays of the sun licked every inch of her, leaving her skin radiating with heat and warmth in their wake.

And the worst part of it all was that it was not just the weather that was experiencing the heat wave. The invading sun rays that heated her skin reminded her of the clawed fingers that had trailed teasingly all over her body. The soft warming blow of the wind against her skin resembled his breath when he had softly panted against the side of her neck in the rhythm of their bodies moving in sync. The surfacing bits of her memories were vivid enough to leave her aching. She was more than a little alarmed to realise that she missed his touch, that she missed him.

It had been weeks since she had seen him last. They hadn’t met often, since that fateful rainy day in the spring when they had first connected, but every now and then he seemed to seek her out. She’d feel his presence with frightening accuracy, and somehow, she just instinctively knew he was waiting for her. So she’d make a poor excuse to her travelling companions and slipped out of their camp, to meet up with him. Although sneaking behind her friends’ backs did make her feel a bit bad, she still didn’t regret her occasional meetings during which she happily indulged herself in consorting with the enemy. And besides, she knew well enough how everyone would flip out if they found out about her new “friend”.

And there it was again, the thing that kept bothering her the most. She had no clue what he was to her – and what troubled her even more was that she did not know at all what she was to him. Sure, he had told her, on several occasions, that there was a connection established between the two of them, a connection of the kind that would quite probably never fade away. While that thought made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside – even against her better judgement – she was slightly concerned how each and every one of their meetings seemed to be all action and no talk. Not that she didn’t enjoy the action, because she did. And she was well aware that to begin with, he wasn’t really a man, well, demon of many words. Still, their meetings left her with mixed feelings. While his rather obvious hunger for her made her feel wanted and stroked her ego in a rather delicious way, in the end, she still felt unsure and insecure. She did not want to be seen just as a piece of meat after all. She was a woman, she had feelings, and more than anything, she yearned to be cared for for who she was.

And that was the crux of her problem. She wasn’t all too certain if her guy friend would be capable of feelings himself. She did not know if there was a single caring bone in his body.

She heaved a sigh.

“Kagome? Are you alright?”

Startled, she snapped out of her whirling thoughts, back to the reality, to find Sango looking at her, a worried expression on her face.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled in reply.

Sango did not seem too convinced by that. She was about to question the miko more, when the monk suddenly set his hand on the taijiya’s shoulder. When Sango turned to look at him, bewildered, the man shook his head slightly. Sango understood and let it be, though she still felt a bit concerned for her friend.

* * *

That day, the inu-tachi set out their camp already in the early afternoon. They found more than a good enough spot for the camp. Besides, they had preparations to do for the night, and they would also need to rest before the nightfall. The coming night would be the night of the new moon, meaning that all of them should be as alert as possible, and ready for some serious action. They all hoped from the bottom of their hearts that the night would pass uneventfully, but there simply was no way of knowing that.

Kagome, for one, was really glad for the early stop to the travel. She sat down in a shadow of a tree and took a good long sip from her water bottle.

“I miss the eakon so much,” she groaned to herself as she fanned herself with the round fan Sango had just handed to her.

“What’s an eakon?” Shippo questioned as he plopped down into the shadow of the tree next to Kagome.

“Air conditioning,” Kagome said. “It’s a machine that blows cold air out to cool the room.” Kagome offered Shippo her water bottle.

“Thanks!” the kit piped out happily and took the bottle.

Kagome leaned back against the trunk of the tree and heaved a heavy sigh.

“Is something wrong, Kagome?” Shippo asked, concerned.

“It’s just the heat,” the priestess grumbled tiredly. “It feels like it’s sucking the life out of me.”

Sango glanced at her friend in contemplation. The continuously high temperatures sure did seem to take their toll on the miko. She seemed to be more weary and listless because of the heat, but she had also grown visibly more irritable as of late. Her usually gentle and cheerful voice had become snappy and snide. Sango did not doubt for a moment what the cause for this change was.

“Why don’t you try to cool down then?” Shippo asked, obviously confused.

“I can’t, really,” Kagome choked. “That’s why I’m missing eakon so bad…”

“But I can smell water,” Shippo muttered. “There’s a river nearby, isn’t there,” the kit piped up, looking at Inuyasha.

“Keh,” the hanyou huffed. “It’s not that near. Besides, Kagome isn’t going there anyway.”

Kagome’s head snapped to his direction, her irritated blue eyes boring into the half demon’s golden ones.

“I’m not?” she asked. Her voice sweet, but the darkness in her eyes deceived her true emotions.

“No, you’re not,” Inuyasha said firmly, either not noticing or then ignoring her swiftly rising anger. “You can’t be idiotic enough to think about running off on your own on a day like this!”

“And why is that?” she challenged sarcastically as she rose from her seat. “Oh, right, how idiotic of me to forget that today’s all about YOU!” she shrieked, her hands balling into fists.

Inuyasha snarled angrily, but before he had a chance to retort to Kagome, Miroku jumped in.

“I think you should let Kagome-sama go,” he said diplomatically in a coaxing manner.

“The heat has made her feel uncomfortable. You’ve noticed yourself how irritable she is these days, right? Some alone time would do her good,” Sango said disarmingly.

 “Have ya lost your minds?” Inuyasha bellowed incredulously. “It’s the night of the new moon, tonight! We can’t let Kagome wander off by herself, she’ll get herself killed for sure!”

Kagome took in a deep breath, before she raised her gaze to stare down Inuyasha.

“You know what? I’m sick and tired of being the damsel in distress! Sure, I get to a bit of trouble sometimes, but I can take care of myself! I don’t need you to protect me! I’m going to that river, and you’re not going to stop me!”

Silence followed her words. She huffed to herself and walked over to her back bag with quick, angered steps. She flung the bag on and picked up her bow and the quiver full of arrows.

“I’m taking these with me, so rest assured,” the young miko snapped. “If anything is to happen to me, you won’t be held responsible, it’s all on me.”

“KEH,” Inuyasha growled at Kagome’s retreating back. “Go on and get yerself killed! See if I care,” he yelled after her.

* * *

Kagome was standing in the cool slow stream of the small river. The water reached up to her knees and she bent down to splash some water on her hands and shoulders as well. Since there was no one even remotely nearby, she had shed her annoyingly clingy, sweaty clothes and was now only wearing her undergarments, as well as her trusted straw hat. She sighed out contently, when she washed her arms and upper body with the cool river water. The river wasn’t very wide, or deep, but the current was rather strong nonetheless. The water was constantly on the move, and thus, even in such hot summer weather and with the sun mercilessly beatingn down the world below, the river still remained cool. Now that her skin was wet, the warm wind felt cool. Still, the air around her was as hot and heavy as ever. The air had also grown very still, as if it was waiting for something. Kagome walked over to a protruding rock, which the river water had smoothed over. At the high point of the summer, having been dry for weeks, the water in the river ran shallow. Kagome sat down on the rock’s smooth surface. It was surprisingly warm, having basked in the sun for so long. Idly, Kagome swung her feet in the water, her thoughts droning out as the deafening chirping of the cicadas hummed in her ears.

It was just so silent and peaceful! Oh, she had longed so much for calming time such as this – time to think about all those small and unimportant things. While she happily swung her feet in the stream, she idly wondered what her family was doing right now. She wondered if there was a heat wave in modern Tokyo as well. Suddenly feeling hungry, she left the rock in the river and walked back to the shore. She stopped at the river bank where she had left her bag. She picked up her belongings and walked over to a shade of a tiny grove growing near the river bank. She sat down and ate, comfortable in the shade of the young trees. In fact, she felt so comfortable, that she started yawning after her stomach was filled. The weariness of the day seemed to have fallen onto her shoulders all at once, and she had to struggle to keep her eyes open. Still, that was a struggle that she lost in the end.

* * *

She felt a shiver shake her body and instinctively snuggled closer to the comfortable warmth. The source of the warmth tickled against her bare skin. It was so nice and comfy and soft… Kagome’s eyes shot open and she sat up right and owlishly stared at the white fluffy hair her fists were grabbing.

“What the…” she blurted.

“Your state of undress could not possibly provide you enough warmth,” a deep, smooth voice said in a bored manner.

Kagome whipped around, for the voice had come from behind her.

Her surprised gaze met Sesshoumaru, whose darkly glowing golden eyes drank in her scantily clad form, obviously amused.

“The heat was sweltering,” she retorted, trying to justify the fact that she was running around in her underwear.

Sesshoumaru did not respond. He was still intently staring at her.

Feeling awkward at being ogled, Kagome averted her gaze. She noticed that the weather had changed while she had been napping. Now dark clouds were massing on the sky and the wind had picked up and lost its warmth. In a bout of insight, she knew it would rain soon.

Her attention was quickly brought back to Sesshoumaru, who had closed their distance. Without a word, the demon pulled her into an embrace. Instinctively, she pressed closer to the warmth the daiyoukai was radiating through his clothes. He had removed his armour at some point, probably back when she still had been sleeping.

All those disgruntled thoughts she had had earlier that day, all the worries of what he really thought of her… They all vanished away the moment he claimed her lips in a heated kiss. In spite of herself, she was drawn to him, and even if to him she was nothing more than a good roll in the hay, she was strong enough to handle it. She’d just have to battle her insecurities if they threatened to get the better of her. And at this point, feeling his body pressed to hers, feeling his tongue exploring her mouth in a way that made her squirm… She could no longer imagine her life without him in it. She startled when she realised it. He had grown on her. She liked their occasionally meetings, she even anticipated them! She loved how his attentions made her feel wanted. She loved how he made her feel a woman.

His claws deliciously tickled her skin as his hands travelled up her arms. The claws hooked under the straps of her bra and pulled them down from her shoulders. His hands circled to the back where he opened the clasp and with one precise flick of his wrist, the bra was gone. Kagome hissed when her bared breasts were exposed to cold air. And then he cupped them and she gasped at the warmth of his palms. He set to his work slowly, teasing. He was provoking her with each of his touches, giving his all to elicit a response. He wanted her to moan in pleasure, and it didn’t take long for her to give him what he so wanted.

His lips, his tongue, his deliberate, sweet caresses, she could feel it all. His taste when she returned his kisses. His scent that was so unmistakably male… His demonic aura that was lazily enveloping her, occasionally brushing against her, evoking a tingling response from her holy powers…

Everything he did was overpowering her, and she gave in to him. But then again, she hadn’t really been resisting to begin with.

He laid her down, partly on his white pelt, partly on the cool, dry grass. She lay there in the ground, watching him with a crooked smile on her lips. He shed his haori.

At that point, the rain started pouring down. There was a bright, blinding flash that illuminated the pale daiyoukai who was removing his hakama. And as he lowered himself on top of her, there was a rumble of thunder in the distance.

When he entered her and started to move, she was in bliss. She ran her hands up his bare wide back and tangled her fingers in his long silvery hair. As they were immersed in each other, the summer storm was raging around them. The eye of the storm was far from them so there was no imminent danger to them, but the experience was none the less very thrilling. The canopy of the small grove of young trees protected them from the worst of the downpour, but every now and then a stray droplet would fall on their heated skins, the sensation only adding to their passion.

Kagome watched Sesshoumaru with hooded eyes and panted lightly as she moved to meet him.

The whole experience – everything – just felt so unreal. At the same time it felt like the most exciting and daring thing she had ever done.

Seeing all the flashing play of the lightning in the dark, clouded sky, feeling the steady hum of the rain and the cool wind tickling against her burning hot, bare skin, hearing the angry roar of thunder… All this was unfolding around them as they found the same rhythm and began to move as one. It was exhilaratingly erotic, thrilling and oddly empowering at the same time. She loved the feel of him inside of her, she couldn’t stop admiring him, and in the midst of it all, she still couldn’t quite believe that Sesshoumaru had chosen her. Her, of all the females available to him. When he moved within her, she could feel their connection with such clarity that it overwhelmed her. A connection so strong, that even with a raging thunderstorm surrounding them, they could fade into a world of their own. A world where nothing existed but the two of them and the burning passion they shared.

* * *

The rain was still pouring down. The strong bouts of wind easily bent the treetops to its will. Lightning flashed every now and then, for a split second eerily lighting up the glum world. The roar of thunder had grown milder, but the rumble in the distance was still far from dying down.

Kagome sat, wrapped in Sesshoumaru’s haori, quietly listening to the hum of rain and staring out into the storm. Sesshoumaru was sitting not too far away from the priestess. He had put on his hakama, but his upper torso was still bared. Kagome stole glances at him from the corner of her eye, wondering to herself if she could muster enough courage to talk. Even though her worst insecurities had calmed down, she still was curious. Especially now, for she had realised today what he was to her, and that understanding was rather shocking. She didn’t know about love, but she was undoubtedly harbouring feelings towards him. Feelings, and affection, that might even grow into love over time. And that was all the more reason why she had to ask the question that had been burning in her mind earlier that day.

“Ne, Sesshoumaru…?” she drawled in timidly. Even though she had met with him like this several times, even though he was the sole person with whom she had ever been intimate, she still felt intimidated to strike up a conversation.

After all, they had never really talked.

He turned and waited for her to continue, his golden eyes boring into her.

She briefly swallowed before she forced the words out of her mouth.

“What am I to you?”

Sesshoumaru frowned. His eyes were fixed on her as he regarded her in silence. It took all the self control she had not to squirm or fidget under the weight of his gaze.

“It’s just been bothering me,” she explained, when his continuing silence became too much for her to bear. “Since, well, every time we meet, it seems to be all about…” her voice died out as she blushed heavily. “All action. And even though I really like it, I keep wondering if that’s all there is to it.” she finished lamely. She hung her head, her bangs covering her flustered face. Now that she had actually had put her thoughts into words and spoke them out to the daiyoukai, she felt very much embarrassed.

“Forget it, this is stupid!’ she thought to herself. ‘Ah, I should’ve just kept my mouth shut!’

A bout of wind rose to play with her hair and she shivered from its cold touch.

“Oh, forget -“

“This Sesshoumaru does not know.”

Surprised, Kagome raised her gaze to meet his eyes. For a while, they just stared at each other. Then, Kagome gave him a small smile.

“Thank you,” she said softly. She hesitated for a moment, but then found her confidence.

“I’m not quite sure what you are to me either,” she confessed. “But still, today, I realised that I have certain… feelings for you. That’s why I wanted to know if there was even a remote possibility of this, this thing being anything to you, other than lust and passion, of course.”

“I do not find your company displeasing,” Sesshoumaru admitted. The statement was so typically him that it made her smile.

“Today, I did feel the connection very strongly,” Kagome told him.

“This Sesshoumaru can feel it even now,” the daiyoukai replied.

His words reassured her. She could tell that somehow, for him too, this connection of theirs wasn’t solely sexual in its nature. Suddenly, she itched to just feel him close. She moved over, so that she was sitting right in front of him.

“Sesshoumaru, would it be okay if I…?”

Sesshoumaru nodded slowly. He seemed to sense what she wanted. He could deduce as much when he heard the shyness in her voice.

Hesitating, she climbed into his lap, settling herself so that her back rested against his wide chest. He did not wrap his arms around her, he did not hold her close, but she didn’t mind the slightest. For Kagome, it was enough to feel the closeness and warmth of his body, and hear the steady rhythm of his heart.

Staring out to the pouring rain, they enjoyed the silence and each other’s company, until, unexpectedly, it was Sesshoumaru who spoke.

“This Sesshoumaru has never before shared this kind of connection with anyone.”

For a while, she wondered if she had imagined the words, for he had spoken them so quietly and close to her ear. But then she broke into a smile. She understood.

Slowly, Kagome turned in Sesshoumaru’s lap so that she was facing him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in to place a soft kiss on his brow.

It was more than enough for her.

“Thank you,” she said when she evenly met his unreadable gaze, her voice quivering with emotion. Sesshoumaru said nothing, which was only to be expected. He did, however, slowly wrap his arms around the priestess in his lap.

She smiled, and kissed him again, gently, softly, on his lips. Then she relaxed against him, resting her head against his shoulder. His arms tightened their hold of her.

To her, the single kiss he planted on the top of her head was like a drop of rain. The words he had spoken out so unexpectedly earlier had struck her like a bolt of lightning.

And, as she laid still in his embrace, listening to the raging storm which was slowly begin to die away, she marvelled to herself how his even breathing was like the whisper of the wind, and how the steady beating of his heart right by her ear became her thunder.

The End