InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Birthday To Remember ❯ Happy Birthday ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and I never will. Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, and I own nothing. I make no profit off this; it is simply something I'm doing for fun, for my own enjoyment and hopefully yours.

 

Chapter 1 - Happy Birthday

 

Finally Kagome thought as she shut the door I thought they were never going to leave.

 

Today being Kagome's eighteenth birthday, Kagome's mother had decided her eldest child deserved a big party and had given her one, apparently inviting Kagome's entire school. The result was something out of Kagome's nightmares. The house was so packed it was hard to find room to breath, let alone move around. Every single crumb of food and drop of drink was gone within the first five minutes. And the whole thing was so noisy Kagome thought her headache was never going to go away. To add insult to injury, almost all of the people who turned up Kagome didn't know. In fact, more than a few of them didn't even know her name. The only good thing about them was the fact that they disappeared pretty quickly after they realised the food was gone.

 

As for those people Kagome did know, well, it was actually a very short list, comprising of only Eri, Yuka, Ayumi and Hojo, and truthfully Kagome would have been happy to see them leave when the food ran out as well. Instead they stuck around for almost two hours after everyone else left and bored her almost tears with talk about school and clothes and music and TV and everything else Kagome had simply stopped caring about over the last three years. By the time they left, Kagome now knew two things she had long suspected for certain. One, that sadly her friendship with Eri, Yuka and Ayumi was as good as dead, as they simply had nothing in common anymore. And two, she must have been suffering from some kind of temporary insanity when she used to have a crush Hojo, because seriously, how the hell was she supposed to like a boy who would believe a story about a twenty-four hour case of diabetes?

 

Then again Kagome thought with a sigh it's not like he's all that much dumber then the rest of the boys I seem to attract. Hojo, Koga, Akitoki, how the hell do these morons keep finding and falling for me, and yet the one boy I want to pay attention to me doesn't even know I exist. No, that's not true, Inuyasha knows about me all to well. The question is, when he looks at me, is it me he's seeing or is it her. That, plus, is he ever going to make a move. Kami, I wish he would. It's been three years, I can't wait around forever Kagome thought, while knowing deep down that if need be, for Inuyasha she would.

 

Just as Kagome was about to go up to her room to change her clothes, her mother stepped out of the kitchen, where she had been washing dishes, and looked at her daughter with an apologetic look on her face.

 

Izanami Higurashi had realised very quickly that this party may not have been her best idea ever. If the look on her daughter's face when she told her (a combination of disbelief and slight panic) hadn't given it away, the first guest to call her `Kagami' had. Izanami had just wanted to give her daughter what she though any normal girl her age would want, forgetting of a moment that Kagome was anything but normal.

 

“I'm sorry sweetie.” Izanami said sadly. “That wasn't any fun for you was it?”

 

For a brief moment, Kagome considered lying, knowing how much work her mother had put into planning the party, but quickly dismissed that idea, she already knew the truth anyway. “No” she answered simply.

 

Izanami sighed and nodded. “I realize that now.” She said softly. “I just wanted to give you a normal birthday party, but then again, you're not a normal girl anymore are you?”

Kagome shook her head, a slight wave of regret washing over her, knowing that what her mother said was the truth. She wasn't normal anymore and she never would be again. “I've just seen and done too much over the last three years to ever fit into that kind of life anymore Mama. I've changed too much.”

 

“I know that now sweetie.” Izanami said, trying to keep the regret out of her voice. Today had in many ways confirmed something she had been trying to deny to herself for a while now, that this wasn't where her precious child belonged anymore. She might have been born in this time, but it wasn't really her home anymore. Her home was five hundred years in the past, with an irritable half-demon by her side. She just hoped her daughter recognized that to, so that maybe she could still find her own happiness.

 

“Well,” Izanami said with a shake of her head to banish such sad thoughts. “Anyway, didn't you say you had another party to get to?” She asked remembering the reason she had had to change the party from evening to afternoon at such short notice.

 

“Don't you need me to help clean up?” Kagome asked, hoping her mother would say no.

 

“Don't you worry about that.” Izanami said, waving away her daughter's half-hearted offer. “I'm the one who had the `brilliant' idea for this party, I'll deal with the fallout. You go and actually in enjoy your birthday with your friends, like a normal birthday girl would.” She said with a slight laugh.

 

Relieved that she wasn't going to be required to spend the next several hours washing dishes or picking up rubbish or whatever, Kagome hurried upstairs to her room. Once there she changed out of the short party dress she was wearing into the red, gold and green kimono she saved for special occasions. The beautiful garment was actually a birthday gift from all her friends in the feudal area last year, though where they had found the time or the money to have such a gorgeous outfit made, she had never discovered. When they had first given it to her, it had actually been a little big, but now it fit her perfectly showing off her curves so well Inuyasha wouldn't let any males older than Shippo near her when she wore it. Then again, it wasn't like he let other males near her, period.

 

After she had changed, she reached under her bed, hoping her party guests hadn't found the food she hidden under there. Fortunately they hadn't, and Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. As well the usual potato chips, candy bars, cans of soft drink and (naturally) ramen, there were also several other foods in Tupperware containers that she had spent all morning working on. To lose them to people who got her name wrong, after spending so long making them for the people she actually cared about, would have really sucked. After putting everything in her trusty old yellow backpack, Kagome ran as well as she could in the kimono, down the stairs and out the door, yelling goodbye to her family as she went. She had to hurry, it was already getting dark and three years had done little to increase Inuyasha's patience. She was actually half surprised he hadn't come for her already.

 

It was difficult jumping into the well wearing the kimono, but somehow she managed it, though once on the other side she was at a loss as just how to get out. Fortunately, she spared that difficulty, when a familiar red clad figure suddenly dropped in.

 

“About time wench.” Inuyasha said with a grouchiness Kagome instantly knew was fake. “Your late. I was just about to go get you.”

 

“Sorry,” Kagome said, though she didn't go into details as to why she was late, as it would only make the hanyou angry to know she had been with Hojo, despite how she felt about him. “I got here as soon as I could.”

 

“Feh.” Inuyasha said, softening slightly though only someone who knew him well would be able to tell. “Well come one lets go, the others couldn't wait, the party's already started.” With that Inuyasha picked Kagome up and jumped out of the well, then started running to towards the village without bothering to put her down.

 

Unlike her last two birthdays in the feudal era, which had simply been little get togethers with her closest friends in this time, this birthday had turned into a mini festival in which the whole village seemed to be attending. However, unlike the birthday party in her own time, this one Kagome didn't mind in the least for a number of reasons. For starters, the people here all truly wished her well and weren't simply there for the food (in fact most people actually brought their own food along to be shared). Also, despite it's size, this party was much quieter without the added noise generated by the stereo, TV and every other piece of electronic equipment that had `somehow' managed to get turned on during her party, thus she didn't get such a headache. Then there was the fact that Kagome knew these people were using this as an excuse to celebrate all the good things that had been happening which they hadn't been able to properly celebrate at the time, such as Naraku's defeat and Miroku and Sango's wedding. And finally, but most importantly, EVERYONE here knew perfectly well that her name was KAGOME (she was still very upset about that).

 

It was a good night. Everyone enjoyed the food (Inuyasha made off with the ramen pretty quickly but no one really minded as it was meant for him anyway), and there was a general feeling of goodwill in the air. She didn't get many presents, not that she expected any really, the village being so poor. But the ones she got she genuinely appreciated, which was vastly different from the presents she had got in her own time. There everyone who'd turned up had given her gifts but they were all things like clothes she would never wear, make-up she would never use, CDs she would never listen too (you get the idea). Here, she got two scrolls full of useful herbal remedies from Kaede; a beautifully made bow and several well-made arrows from Sango; several powerful sutras for protection from Miroku; and a portrait of her and her friends from Shippo (who had become quite a good little artist over the years). She also got a few presents from the villages that could afford it too, including a beautiful hand-carved wooden chest, two new kimonos (not quite as nice as the one she was currently wearing, but still very nice), a simple necklace of hand-painted wooden beads, and a large bouquet of flowers which all of the village children apparently worked on together.

 

In all, it was a good birthday. The only thing that bothered her was the fact that Inuyasha seemed to disappear when it came time to give the presents, and didn't come back. She hadn't really expected anything from him, knowing full well he had no money nor trade, so she wasn't upset that he hadn't gotten anything for her, but she was upset that he had disappeared without a word. So it was that later once the party had started to break up slightly that Kagome went out in search of the half dog demon, acting on a tip from one of the villages that he had been seen heading in the direction of the Sacred Tree.

 

The Tree held a great many memories for both Kagome and Inuyasha. For Kagome, they were good memories, it being the place she and Inuyasha had first met, but she also knew that for Inuyasha it held bad memories as well. For it was there Kikyo had shot him with the sacred arrow, sealing him away for fifty years. As Kagome approached and sure that the village woman was right and Inuyasha was here she wondered which memory was on his mind, hoping it was her. It had been nearly five months now since Kikyo had been killed in the final battle with Naraku, and Kagome had truly thought that Inuyasha was moving forward with his life. Kagome hoped this was the case, not only because it might mean a chance for her someday, but because she wanted more than anything for Inuyasha to be happy and she knew he never would be if he keep living in the past forever.

 

As Kagome approached, she was relived when Inuyasha looked up and flashed her that small smile he seemed to reserve only for her when they were alone. The one that always made her heart pound with excitement.

 

“Hey, wench, why aren't you at the party?” Inuyasha asked, not unkindly.

 

“Party's over, or just about.” Kagome answered with a slight shrug as she sat next to the hanyou who had over the last three years become her best friend and secret love. “I came looking for you.”

 

“The party's over?” Inuyasha asked in surprise. “Fuck, I'm sorry Kagome. I didn't mean to be gone so long, I just needed to think about some things.”

 

“It's okay.” Kagome said, slightly surprised that he had apologized to her. “What did you need to think about?” Surprisingly, Inuyasha actually looked rather worried when Kagome asked him that.

 

“A lot of things actually.” Inuyasha said nervously.

 

“Like what?” Kagome couldn't understand what he was so nervous about all of a sudden.

 

“Well,” Inuyasha said hesitantly, refusing to meet her eyes. “It's just, ever since we defeated Naraku, I've been wondering about the future. I mean, Miroku and Sango have already gotten married, and I've been wondering what all of us are going to do now.”

 

“We'll all still be travelling together for a while yet.” Kagome reminded him. “Remember, we still need to recollect the shards of the Jewel.”

 

“I remember.” Inuyasha said in real annoyance. “Damn that Naraku.”

 

As a kind of final `Screw you', once the dark hanyou had realized there was no way he could win in the final battle, he had somehow successfully managed to once again shatter the Jewel to the four corners of Japan, hence undoing three years of collecting a which mere five months had yet to make up for, especially since with the threat of Naraku gone Kagome had been spending more time in her own world trying to finish her final year of school. Not, she reflected, that she really cared that much about school these days, but it made her mother happy at least. She was sure she wouldn't go to collage though, and had been seriously considering approaching Kaede for training in becoming a Miko for some time.

 

“Anyway, that's not what I meant.” Inuyasha continued, shaking Kagome out of her thoughts. “I know will all stay together to look for the Jewel Shards, but what about after that? What do you want to do after the Jewel's once again complete?”

 

“I don't know.” Kagome said, not really wanting to think about that too much. After all, once the Jewel was whole again, Inuyasha would most likely use it to become a full-blooded demon and wouldn't need her any more.

 

“Are you going to go back to your own time?” Inuyasha pressed. He sounded somewhat desperate for an answer and wouldn't look at her.

 

“No.” Kagome said with a sigh. “No I won't. I don't fit in there any more. I've seen and done too much that most people there would never believe. My family's still there, but really, my home is here now. Over there, there's no longer a place for me.”

 

Inuyasha seemed to sit up straighter after Kagome said that, as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

 

“What about you, do you still want to use the Jewel to become a full demon?” Kagome asked, trying not to let her fear show in her voice.

 

“No, I don't want that anymore.” Inuyasha said emotionlessly.

 

“So, what do you want?” Kagome asked.

 

Now Inuyasha really looked scared, almost as if he was about to jump up and run away. Kagome was wondering what could have suddenly made him so worried when he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.

 

“You.”

 

“What?” Kagome asked in shock, sure that she had heard wrong. He couldn't have meant that the way she thought he did, hoped he did. Could he?

 

Inuyasha took a deep breath and slowly, fearfully, turned to look her in the eyes. For once, his expression was unguarded, showing a vast range of emotions but at the fore were fear, determination and a third, which Kagome barely dared to hope she was interpreting right. Love.

 

“You, I want you Kagome.” Inuyasha said, firmly yet fearfully, as if afraid she was about to laugh or sit him. “I want to spend my life with you, I want to build you a hut and protect and provide for you for the rest of my days. I… I want you to be my mate, my wife and someday the mother of my pups.”

 

Kagome just sat there, shocked and unable to believe everything she had just heard, unable to let herself believe that everything she had hoped for almost three years seemed to be coming true.

 

Inuyasha, on the other hand, seemed to take her silence as rejection, as his ears dropped and he looked away. “I understand if you don't want me.” He said softly, sadly. “I just hoped that maybe…” He never got a chance to finish that thought as Kagome choose that moment to snap out of her daze and throw herself at him.

 

“Yes!” She screamed so loud part of her was sure they'd hear her at the village if not on the other side of the well. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Yes, Inuyasha I will be yours! I've wanted you for so long, loved you for so long, but I never thought you felt the same way.”

 

“You, you have?” Inuyasha asked in shock, even as he felt the largest smile he was sure he had ever had creep it's way onto his face. Of their own accord, his arms wrapped themselves around Kagome, pulling her even closer

 

Kagome smiled and simply answered Inuyasha with that one word which was slowly becoming his favourite word in the universe. “Yes.”

 

For a long time after that, neither said anything as Inuyasha captured Kagome's mouth in a long hard kiss that said more than any words ever could. They continued kissing for a long time, before Kagome finally pulled away, feeling there were some questions she needed answers to.

 

“Inuyasha?” She asked.

 

“Hum?” Inuyasha answered with a lazy smile. He was feeling better than he could remember feeling in a long time and nothing was going to bring him down from this high.

 

“Just what is involved in an Inu Youkai mating?” Kagome asked, not really worried as she knew Inuyasha would never do anything to hurt her, merely curious as to what would be expected of her.

 

“Oh.” Inuyasha answered, sobering up slightly. “Well, unlike a human marriage, it's actually pretty simple. When we first mate, I have to bite you, here,” he gently ran his finger over the joint between Kagome's shoulder and neck, causing shivers to run down Kagome's back. However, they were good shivers. “It's important that I drink some of your blood to form a bond. The bite will turn into a mating mark, that'll prove to any demons, or human who know what to look for, that you are mine.” Inuyasha couldn't help the small smile that made itself known at the thought that he couldn't wait until Koga saw it.

 

“That's it?” Kagome asked a little surprised that it was so simple. “Do I need to bite you too? I don't have fangs you know.”

 

“No, you don't have to bite me.” Inuyasha said with a slight frown suddenly appearing. “You can if you want to, but that would mean that our souls would become tied together and you'd age as I do. I'd understand if you don't want that, most humans don't.”

 

“I'd age like you?” Kagome asked thoughtfully, the differences between human and hanyou aging suddenly dawning on her. She knew Inuyasha was about two hundred years old but still only looked like he was in his late teens. If she decided to age like him, she'd have to watch all the humans she knew grow old and die while she stayed the same. On the other hand, if she didn't, Inuyasha would have to watch that of her. If that happened to her, she knew she'd die shortly after of a broken heart. Suddenly another thought occurred to her, just as disturbing.

 

“Inuyasha, if you and me had children, how long would they live?” She asked. “They be more human that you, so would they have shorter life spans?”

 

However, Inuyasha shook his head and answered firmly. “No. True, any pups of ours would only be quarter youkai, but being the son of the Inu No Taisho the demon blood in me is strong and would assure that any pups we have should have a full hanyou life expectancy.” Inuyasha had already checked that with Myouga months ago when the concept of asking Kagome to be his mate first seriously started to present itself as more than an unreachable dream. He'd been worried about the same thing, and was rather relieved with the answer.

 

That did it, Kagome decided. No matter what, she would have Inuyasha and she would have their children. That, she decided, would be all she needed. “I want to age like you do.” She said firmly.

 

“You do?” Inuyasha asked in shook. He had wanted more than anything for Kagome to be with him forever, but hadn't dared to hope it would happen, that she'd honestly want to give up her morality. “Really?”

 

“Really.” Kagome said firmly. “But, like I said, I don't have fangs and I don't think I can break through your skin.”

 

“It's okay,” Inuyasha said engulfing Kagome in a hug born of the gratitude he felt at her wanting to be with him forever. “I can break my own skin with my claws. As long as you bite down and drink some of my blood, the how doesn't matter so much.”

 

Kagome smiled. “So, is that it or is there something else I need to know?”

 

“No, that's it.” Inuyasha answered. “Like I said, it's fairly simple compared to human marriages.”

 

“So, what are we waiting for?” Kagome asked with a sly smile. She knew she was being out of character being so forward, but what the hell, she'd been waiting three years she didn't want to wait anymore.

 

“What?” Inuyasha asked, hardly daring to believe he'd heard her right. “Here, now?”

 

“Why not?” Kagome asked. “I've waited three years, I don't want to have to wait any longer.”

 

“But, we're outside…” Inuyasha never got to finish that thought.

 

“We've been sleeping outside for years. Beside where else do you suggest, Kaede's one room hut?” Inuyasha had no answer for that.

 

“Your family…”

 

“They'll approve, so will Miroku, Sango and everyone else whose opinions matters to me.”

 

“I haven't built you a house…”

 

“You will, but I can wait for that.” Kagome said firmly. “I don't care about any house or possessions Inuyasha, I care about you. I want to be with you tonight. I want to feel what I've been dreaming about for nearly three years now, I want I know this isn't a dream.”

 

Inuyasha stared a Kagome, barely able to believe himself that this wasn't all just some wonderful dream. There was his beautiful, fiery, perfect Kagome almost begging to be with him, a lonely hanyou. It was almost too wonderful to be real.

 

“So, what are we waiting for?” Kagome asked again, hoping against hope that this time he'd give in.

 

Slowly a smile crossed Inuyasha's face. “What indeed?” He muttered before passionately kissing her and lowering her to the ground.

 

As Inuyasha continued to assault her body with kisses, Kagome's last conscious though before giving into the passion and pleasure of it all was that this was one birthday she'd never forget.

 

 

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

 

I realise the name I gave for Kagome's mother - Izanami - is similar to the name the anime gave for Inuyasha's mother - Izayoi - in the third movie, and I apologise for any confusion caused by that. However, when I discovered that the name Izanami meant (at least according to the website I found it on) `She who invites you to enter', I just had to use it. It think it suits Kagome's mother perfectly, the way she is always so welcoming to all of Kagome's friends, human or otherwise.