InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity ❯ Birthday ( Chapter 46 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The full moon was coming.

Heaving a sigh, InuYasha shook his head slowly. The movement drew the attention of the puppies. All five of them leapt, trying to grab the silvery strands. He winced as one of them managed to capture some hair and tugged. `Four-week-old puppies,' he thought with a snort, `are worse than children could ever be.'

That thought led him back to the beginning, and he sighed again. He had really, really grown to despise the full moon nights almost as much as the new moon ones, though for completely different reasons. `Maybe I should tell Kagome to stay at the shrine tonight.' Even as the idea surfaced, he pushed it aside. Kagome didn't belong anywhere but here with him, and the fact that she'd insisted on going home to the shrine today, of all days, was enough to make him bear his fangs in a fierce grimace. She was hiding something from him. He knew it. He could sense it in her silence, the same way he could feel her upset whenever children or family was mentioned. Yet every time he tried to talk to her about that, she cut him off with an overly-bright smile or a kiss meant to preoccupy him.

Truth was, more and more often lately, InuYasha could see himself with a family, with her. Human children were a possibility. They wouldn't be treated unfairly, and that was the main fear that he had, to begin with. Still, telling Kagome what he thought . . . That was harder. He knew she wanted children. Why did he feel as though she wouldn't be as pleased with the idea of having a human family?

`Because she loves you, baka, and you're hanyou. Because it has never been about you being a hanyou. It's only ever been about her accepting you and loving you, and you know it.'

InuYasha growled in frustration. `Why does it all have to be so fucking difficult?'

The puppies caught the sound as well as the blatant show of fangs and skittered away from him, peeking at him from behind their mother, who only cast InuYasha a momentary glance before she dropped her head into her paws again and stared out the windows.

`Trouble is,' InuYasha admitted to himself, `I want her, so badly I can taste it. As if it isn't bad enough that I can't get her out of my mind anyway, on the nights of the full moon . . .' He trailed off with a dejected sigh and raked his claws across the hardwood floor. It was hard enough, to admit that he wanted her so desperately. Swims in the cold pond weren't working so well anymore. Trying to think of something else while Kagome wrapped herself around him definitely never worked. But something about the full moon made the desire almost overwhelming. As though the part of him that was youkai was fully awakened on those nights, everything about Kagome seemed to beckon him. Too often he could hear the blood pumping through her veins, could smell the underlying scent of her. Her innocent touch was enough to send his overwrought emotions soaring, and a look from her was all that was needed to leave his mind reeling. The worst part of it was that Kagome didn't seem to have a clue that she had that sort of affect on him, at all. He shuddered. What if she figured it out? Would she taunt him even more? `She is your marked, as good as your mate,' he reasoned with himself. `What's to stop you, anyway? She wants you, too, or haven't you noticed?'

Yet another sigh issued from him. He'd been doing that a lot of late. It irritated him, that he'd suddenly found himself making such a sound. It smacked of human frailty, of weakness. He smiled but it was more of a grimace. Kagome didn't weaken him, not at all. But she did have the ability to bring him to his knees without even realizing that she could. So why didn't her invisible power bother him? `Because you want to be under her power, baka. You know you do. You want her with you forever. You've admitted as much to her. Now why don't you admit to the other thing—the thing you refuse to acknowledge—even to yourself?'

InuYasha deliberately ignored those last thoughts, flipping his hair in a gesture deliberately designed to provoke a few young puppies. It worked like a charm. InuYasha chuckled as five yapping pups lunged at him.

`Damn the full moon,' he thought with a disgusted snort. One of the two nights a month that he dared not touch her. One of the two nights every month that he dreaded because the aching desire to possess her that always surrounded him was magnified. One of the two nights of the month when a child would come after . . .

Brought out of his musings when one of the pups bit his finger hard, InuYasha grabbed the fuzzy creature and looked him in the eye, message clear: The pup had overstepped his bounds. The puppy's eyes skittered to the side. Satisfied that he'd corrected the puppy, InuYasha let the animal down to play.

He smelled her when she opened the door. The fresh air of the early winter blew her scent to him. Closing his eyes, stifling a groan, InuYasha fought back the sudden compulsion to chase her down. He schooled his features, willing his expression to blank, he waited for her to approach.

Kagome hugged him from behind and giggled. "Happy birthday, InuYasha."

InuYasha blinked and turned to stare at Kagome. "What?"

She made a face. "Happy birthday!" she repeated, letting go and retrieving the suspect white box that she'd set aside so that she could hug him.

After the momentary confusion wore off, InuYasha leaned back on his hands and lifted his eyebrows as he stared at Kagome, a mischievous smile playing with his lips. "Do I get a gift?"

"Not yet," she said, her tone way too innocent. "Maybe later."

Leaning forward, hands and feet flat on the floor, InuYasha shot her a long-suffering look. She didn't take the bait. Instead, she balanced the white box on her hip and reached over to rub his ear before she turned and headed off toward the kitchen.

"Yeah, she's not getting away that easily," he muttered as he shot up to chase her. "What are you doing?" he demanded. Kagome closed the refrigerator and leaned against it, that enigmatic smile still gracing her lips.

"Be patient," she chided.

"Distract me."

Her cheeks pinked. He knew they would. Still, she stepped closer to him, put her hands on his shoulders, rose up on her toes, and kissed him quickly, much too quickly for him, anyway. She smiled at his irritated expression. "Come on, InuYasha. You act like you haven't seen me in days."

He didn't answer. Slowly, deliberately, he caught her around the waist and lifted her up before turning and sitting her on the counter. His hands stayed on her waist. "What was so urgent that you had to do today?"

Kagome scooted forward and leaned over to stare down at the floor before shifting her eyes to meet his. "Just some things. Will you put me down now?"

"Keh." Hands sliding off her waist, trailing down her hips, down the sides of her legs to her knees, InuYasha caught her legs and dragged her forward as he drew them apart, bringing her flush up against him. She gasped, instant color filtering into her cheeks at the contact. He smiled. "Do you really want down?"

Her blush deepened. She started to shake her head `no' then realized what she was doing. "Yes," she blurted, her voice high, false.

Deliberately letting his tone of voice fall, deliberately goading her with his proximity, he said, "What's the matter, Kagome? I know you're not scared of heights. This isn't even high. You're barely off the floor."

She swallowed hard. He could hear her blood whizzing through her veins. "It's not that," she murmured. "It's . . . put me down?"

"I will," he agreed, his claws dragging over the silken skin on the back of her knees. "After you kiss me."

"That's blackmail," she remarked. Her eyes were drifting closed, lulled by his touch.

"Fine. I'll kiss you then." He didn't give her a chance to argue. Letting go of her legs, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her against him as his lips covered hers. Blossoming under his, blooming like the first flowers of springtime, Kagome's lips opened to him.

Everything he'd ever wanted to tell her was in that kiss, and she returned his unspoken words with a force of her own, her voice echoing in his mind as her spirit touched his soul. Some things transcended a simple act, a carnal deliverance. Kagome and her rare and unfathomable love was one of those things.

All too soon, he drew away from her, still holding her close. She was more precious to him than anything else he'd ever known. He wanted her to understand that.

"Why do you always stop?" she asked with a long sigh. He grinned and squeezed her.

"Because," he replied, resting his cheek on her hair, breathing in the scent of her, the smell of wildflowers in her shampoo. There were no easy answers to her question. "I want . . ." He trailed off with a frown as a familiar vehicle stopped before the house. "Because I want to get rid of that bastard."

With that, InuYasha set Kagome back on the floor and stalked off toward the front door. Kagome glanced out the window and ran after him. "InuYasha, wait . . . I invited them."

He turned to stare incredulously at her then groaned. "Why?"

She shifted nervously, wringing her hands together as he continued to eye her. "Ehh . . . H-Happy birthday."


InuY asha sighed and stared out the window as Kagome and the children, along with Shippou, Kagura, and Sesshoumaru played with the children.

"Happy birthday, InuYasha. I forgot to say that before."

He turned his head to see Rin beside him. She, too, stared outside though she had a smile on her face, and he turned back with a frown. "Thanks."

"When are you two getting married?"

InuYasha's head whipped to the side as he narrowed his gaze on the woman, trying to decide if she was serious. "Married?"

Rin shook her head. "Come on, InuYasha. Kagome's human. For her sake, you'd better marry her."

He shrugged. "So I'll go ask her to marry me."

Rin made a face. "InuYasha! If you're going to ask her, you should at least get her a ring."

"A ring?"

"A diamond ring."

Rolling his eyes, he had to wonder what else there was to the whole thing. A diamond ring? `Keh!' Rin cleared her throat. InuYasha shifted his gaze out of the corner of his eye to see if he could figure out what it was that bothered her. He could tell there was something else on Rin's mind. Stubbornly, though, he refused to ask her what it was since he had a fair feeling what it could be. He wasn't far off. "Have you given any thought to what we discussed before?"

InuYasha shrugged. "Some."

She giggled. "You really are stubborn, aren't you? Okay, I'll ask then. Have you reconsidered?"

Again he shrugged. "Sort of."

"May I ask what that means?"

InuYasha glanced down at Rin's smiling face and flinched inwardly. He ought to be talking this over with Kagome, not her. "I don't want to talk about it," he growled, reaching for the door handle.

Rin's hand stopped him. As if she could read his thoughts, she said, "It isn't fair to raise Kagome's hopes if you're not sure yourself, InuYasha."

He felt oddly nervous, putting his thoughts into words, as though the simple act would make everything that much more real. Once he admitted it, that meant there would be no going back. Wasn't that the real reason he'd taken so long to tell Kagome in the first place? "I thought maybe . . . human children might be all right . . . They wouldn't be rejected, like I was."

"It really isn't like that anymore, InuYasha. The stigma of being hanyou isn't really there. How do you think the youkai have survived all these years?" She sighed and smiled again. "There's something else you really need to consider, as well."

InuYasha stared at Rin. "What's that?"

Rin shrugged. "Kagome's human, yes. But she's been marked, too. She'll live as long as you do. But a human child will die, long before either of you. Do you think that Kagome or any mother could stand that?" Seeing the confusion filter over InuYasha's face, she squeezed his arm and opened the door. He watched her stop and speak with Nori, who was sitting alone on the steps. Rin ruffled the girl's hair and continued down the stairs to join the others.

`Do you think that Kagome could stand that?'

He sighed. He hadn't thought of that, and now that Rin mentioned it, he knew it was true. Kagome wouldn't be able to handle that. For that matter, he didn't think he would be able to, either.

Had things really changed so significantly over the centuries? If that was the case, then there wasn't really a reason not to have children, hanyou children . . . `But you've not been treated like that since you arrived. You know it. You're just being stubborn. To wish to protect your own is one thing. But to let fear dictate your decisions, especially one that impacts Kagome . . .'

InuYasha glowered at the voice in his mind that was getting much too daring.

He jerked the door open and stepped outside, savoring the primitive scents in the air. Nori still sat on the step, shoulders slumped, head bent. He knelt down beside the four year-old. "Something the matter?"

The little girl shrugged. She didn't answer right away, and InuYasha was starting to think she wasn't going to. Finally, she drew a deep breath and sighed as if the weight of the world rested on her tiny shoulders. She dared a peek at InuYasha. As she started to speak, her tiny voice broke, and she sobbed. "They—" she broke off as she wailed, "were m-m-making fun of m-me!"

Indignant anger immediately shot to the fore. InuYasha felt his fist tighten. "Who?"

"A-A-At sch-school!"

He picked her up and cuddled her against him. The child sobbed even louder. "Why?" He stifled a growl. `I'll tear them apart, children or not. Just because she's a hanyou they can't—'

"'Cause I l-l-lost a tooth . . . They c-called me `gapm-m-mouth'."

It took a minute for InuYasha to understand what the child meant. When he did, an oddly relieved smile broke over his features. They weren't teasing her because of what she was; they were teasing her about losing a tooth? He hugged Nori and sat her back on the step beside him.

"Don't worry about it, Nori. You're a hanyou. Your new tooth will be in by the time you go to school Monday."

The little girl hiccupped and blinked as she stared up at him. "R-R-Really?"

"Yeah. Then they'll have to find someone else to tease."

Despite the tears still pooled in Nori's eyes, she threw herself into InuYasha's arms with a brilliant smile. "Thanks, Inu-oji-chan! I love you!"

For some reason, InuYasha felt tears pooling in his own eyes. He quickly blinked them back. "Yeah, uh . . . I love you, too."