InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Bind a Soul ❯ Place Your Bets ( Chapter 31 )

Chapter 31- Place Your Bets

The first thing Inuyasha was aware of when he woke was the soft breathing of Kagome beside him. Their `activities' had completely worn her out and she had fallen asleep in Inuyasha's arms after the fourth round.

After that, Inuyasha had gently wrapped her in his freshly clean haori. His hakama and Kagome's skirt had needed to be clean, so they had spent the day and most of the night by the hot springs, `waiting for their clothing to dry.' The Inuhanyou ended up carrying the young girl back to Kaede's hut where he had unrolled Kagome's sleeping back and crawled in with the miko still cradled in his arms, her head resting on his chest.

Inuyasha had never slept so deeply in his entire life. Slowly, he lifted his head to stare down at the girl sleeping in his arms. What he saw though shocked him beyond belief.

He closed his eyes and shook his head, thinking he might be dreaming, but when he opened his eyes again, they were still there.

Kagome had ears.

His ears.

Tentatively, Inuyasha reached out his hand to touch Kagome's new ears. The fur under his fingertips was soft and he suddenly understood why Kagome wanted to touch his ears so much.

Inuyasha smiled at the content purr that came from the sleeping miko when he rubbed the base of her ear.

Kagome awoke to the feeling of strong arms wrapped around her and the sound of purring. What she didn't realize at first was that the purring was coming from her.

"Inuyasha," Kagome muttered, yawning loudly.

She sighed in complete bliss when the said hanyou bent down to nip at her neck. "Kagome?" Inuyasha said.

"Hn?" she replied, not fully awake.

"You have to promise not to freak out," he said, his arms tightening around her.

"About what?"

Slowly, Inuyasha took Kagome's hand and placed it on top of her head, where one of her ears was.

Kagome was completely awake in the span of a second and shot up into a sitting position. Inuyasha stayed lying down, watching her as she reacted to her newest demon trait. "I have . . ." Kagome managed to squeak before she trailed off.

"You have my ears," Inuyasha stated, the entire time watching her steadily.

Kagome finally calmed down enough to think. I have Inuyasha's ears. That's just so . . . so . . . so weird. "I don't look strange?" Kagome asked, looking back at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha stared at her profile before shaking his head and coming to a conclusion. "You don't look weird. It'll just take some time to get accustomed to them, that's all. I imagine you also have youkai hearing as well."

"That's good, right?" Kagome replied.

"Depends on your definition of good," Inuyasha said cryptically.

Kagome's ears twitched at the sounds coming from outside and her eyes widen when she recognized Sango and Miroku's voices. Kagome looked down at her clothing, or rather, her lack of clothing and gave a small scream. "My clothes, quick, where are my clothes?" Kagome said, looking around frantically.

"Beside you," Inuyasha replied calmly, slipping his haori on and tightening the ties of his hakama.

Amused, Inuyasha watched as Kagome dressed frantically, her face in complete panic. She finished slipping her top over her head just as Sango walked into the hut. Inuyasha had already rolled the sleeping bag and set it aside, waiting for his friends to notice Kagome's new ears.

Miroku soon followed Sango, greeting Inuyasha first. "So, did you have fun while we were gone?" he asked Inuyasha with a perverted grin on his face.

Inuyasha gave him a smile that only the male species is capable of. "We managed to stay out of trouble, and you?" he replied cheerfully.

Miroku smiled. He would wait until he could get Inuyasha alone to tell the hanyou just what he had done with his time- and to get his payment. "No trouble here," Miroku replied.

Sango shook her head at the two and turned to Kagome. "How are you Kagom-," Sango broke off what she was about to say and stared at Kagome, or more correctly, the top of Kagome's head.

Miroku turned to see what had caused Sango to stop speaking. "What the hell . . ." he muttered, loud enough for both Inuyasha and Kagome to hear.

Kagome's ears flattened at the looks of her friends. "What!?" she barked at them, snapping them both out of their gaze.

"Your ears," Sango muttered.

"I know," Kagome replied, trying to keep her anger at bay.

"Oh. Okay then, what's for breakfast?" asked Miroku, changing the subject.

Kagome's mouth dropped open at how quickly Miroku had dismissed such a startling transformation. But then she thought about it. He was male. Not so surprising. "I'm sure we can discuss this after we all have had something to eat," Miroku continued, sitting down by the door.

"Discuss what?" asked Shippou as he and Kaede entered the hut.

"My ears," Kagome growled, moving to sit by Inuyasha. "You can make breakfast, Miroku-sama, since you are the one that brought it up."

"Yeah monk," Inuyasha agreed. "Hurry up! I'm hungry."

"I'm not surprised," Miroku said dryly, causing both Inuyasha and Kagome to blush.

Kaede noted Kagome's sudden new trait and filed it away to be pondered later. It was not an overly pressing matter. Shippou climbed into Kagome's lap and rubbed his cheek against her stomach. "I like your new ears, Kagome," he said sweetly, giving her such a face that quickly had all her anger melting.

"Thank you, Shippou-Chan," she replied, stroking her fingers through his hair.

Shippou sniffed for a few seconds before turning to Inuyasha. "I see Miroku and Sango's plan worked out just fine," he said, loud enough for all the humans to hear.

"Miroku and Sango's plan?" asked Kagome.

"Hai, you know. They went away so the you and Inuyasha-," the kitsune was quickly cut off when a monk quickly picked him up and pulled him to his chest, not allowing the kitsune to say another word.

"Miroku-sama?" Kagome said, raising an eyebrow.

"The poor thing doesn't know what he's saying. Probably because he's so hungry. Come help me cook breakfast Shippou," Miroku said quickly, moving to the other side of the hut.

"Do you know what he's talking about Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, turning to the grinning hanyou.

"I might. You know how his mind works," he replied.

Kagome sighed and slumped against Inuyasha defeated. "You're still tired," he whispered in her new ear.

The miko shivered slightly at his breath in her ear and only closed her eyes. Inuyasha pulled her into his lap and tucked her head beneath his chin. "Go to sleep, I'll wake you when breakfast is done."

"Okay . . ."

^_^

"It worked," Sango said as she moved over to help Miroku with breakfast.

"Of course it worked. I am a genius," Miroku replied.

Shippou snorted. "All you did was get everyone out of the way."

"Well it worked," he replied, defensively.

Shippou snorted again. "I could have thought that up, and I'm just a kid."

Sango patted Shippou on his head and smiled. "It doesn't matter. The plan worked and now we can all relax."

"Sure," Miroku replied, grinning a bit to himself.

^_^

After breakfast Inuyasha left Kagome in the hut with Sango and went outside for some fresh air. Miroku soon joined him.

"Well?" the monk asked.

"It's too early to tell," Inuyasha replied, dismissing his question with a wave of his hand.

"When will you be able to tell?"

"In three or four days," he said, leaning back on the grass and staring up at the sky.

Miroku nodded and dropped the subject.

"So how did it go with Sango?" Inuyasha asked teasingly.

Miroku smiled, thinking back to the day before. "I stole a kiss without being knocked unconscious," he said happily, lying down beside Inuyasha.

"Is it male bonding time?" asked Shippou, sitting between Inuyasha and Miroku.

"Just discussing our exploits," Miroku replied.

Inuyasha snorted and shook his head.

"Well," Shippou said, "I got kissed by a little human girl yesterday. She said I was cute."

Miroku chuckled and glanced at the little kitsune. "You have potential," he said.

"No. We are not having another `Miroku' in the Pack," said Inuyasha, shooting the monk a glare when he dared continue.

"So Inuyasha," Shippou said, turning to the hanyou. "Can I name one of them?"

"You can tell?" Inuyasha asked, looking at the kitsune from the corner of his eye.

"You know kitsunes have the best noses around. Plus I could hear the heartbeats. I want a baby sister," stated Shippou.

"I'm going to go change my bet," said Miroku standing up. Before he left, he turned to Inuyasha. "Do youkai have different pregnancy lengths?"

"Six months," the Inuhanyou replied. "Perhaps you should tell Sango? It is quite a bit of money."

"Right, I'll tell her as soon as she leaves the company of Kagome-sama. Excuse me," he replied hurrying off towards the village.

"When are you going to tell Kagome?" Shippou asked.

"Tonight."

^_^

Okay, I've decided to do another lemon, just not right away. So just be patient and all that other BS. Oh, and I would like to thank everyone who reviewed! I never expected to get so many! Thank you! Until next time~ fire_goddess