InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 335

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

I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

Chapter 335

InuYasha sat there on the wooden floor a few moments longer than necessary, letting the warm firelight play over his skin, a slight, knowing smile playing across his lips. Kagome, well aware of the game they were playing with each other, used this moment to walk around him, pretending to check his hair bun to be sure it would stay in place during his bath, but from the way her eyes darted from his head to his legs and other parts of his anatomy, she was mostly enjoying the view of her naked husband.

His slight smile grew into a soft smirk at the spicy overtones that began to dance into her scent. He took one deeper breath, enjoying it all, but then decided that this moment was not really the time for that type of play. Instead, he got up and gracefully took his place in the tub.

"Warm enough still?" Kagome asked, as she grabbed the heated pot of water.

"Could use a little warm-up," he said as he sank into the warm liquid as best as he could, his knees sticking up high in the tub. "One day we're going to have to get a bigger tub."

"That would be really nice," Kagome said as she poured a little bit more water into it over his back and chest. "Laundry tubs just really aren't big enough."

"You fit in it better than I do," he said, wetting the cloth to get to the serious business of getting clean.

She leaned against the edge of the tub. "It would be nice to have a tub big enough to hold two," she said.

"You want a tub fit for a hime?" he asked, wringing out the washcloth before he ran it over his shoulder.

"Not for a hime. Hisa-obasan's tub is big enough for two people," she said. "It's so nice to stretch out in the hot water." There was a touch of wistfulness in her voice. His ear twitched at the sound.

"Maybe with those big sons of hers, she needs it," InuYasha said. "Susumu's no small fry. And Tameo's no tiny boy himself." He shrugged. "Maybe it's not for two people. Just big people."

"Maybe," she said, nodding. "Still that doesn't mean it's not nice. You have enough water?" She held up the pot, offering it to him.

"For the moment," he replied. He dipped the washcloth into the water and sighed. "I think I'm ready to let this day be done." Running the cloth over his chest first, he let it run down one arm, then worked on the other.

"It was a hard morning," Kagome said. "My afternoon, though, well, Kaede's medicine kind of knocked me out. I kind of missed most of it."

"You didn't miss anything you needed to do." InuYasha started working on his legs."But you made this afternoon go all right for me. I didn't like it at first, but I'm glad you sent me out. I'd have just been underfoot, and you needed your rest."

"I had that feeling," Kagome said, nodding. She offered the pot again, and this time, InuYasha let her warm his water up. "All there was for you around here was hovering, and I know that's hard for you."

He nodded. "So I walked halfway to the next village, talked with Susumu about stuff. It looks like Seiji's brother went there. Maeme's family's in good hands and so far, no more disasters or emergencies have struck that I know about. I brought in enough food for tonight and tomorrow. And it waited until tonight to start to rain. Not bad." He dipped into the water and scrubbed his face. Accidently, while shooshing the cloth around and sitting up more, he splashed water on the floor.

"I'm glad. I'm tired of emergencies. Let's hope it stays that way for a while." Kagome said, walking over to the cabinet and getting out a couple more towels to soak up the wet spot.

Something about the tone of her voice made InuYasha's ear twitch. "Are you tired?" the hanyou asked. "I thought you'd sound happier about it."

She stood up with the damp towels and gave him a smile. "But really, I am. You just caught me when I was thinking about something." She walked over to the edge of the wooden floor platform and laid the wet cloths out.

"About what?"

Kagome gave him a rather sheepish look, then went back to sit near the tub. "I suspect that after everything calms down, Kaede and Miroku are going to start putting me through more training." She stopped for a moment and paused. "It's funny. If I was back in my mother's time, I'd be expected to do a few more years of advanced schooling. I came here, and I immediately get put into Kaede's school of herbal medicines and healing, and now I get to do miko schooling, too."

"Must be karma," InuYasha said. "At least now you do your schooling here, and there's none of those math test things you really hated." He ran the wash cloth over the back of his neck. "You always hated those things."

"Math was never was my best subject," she said, taking the washcloth from him. "I liked history and literature a lot better. Want me to wash your back?"

InuYasha nodded.

"Funny, if the well hadn't opened up," she said, dunking the cloth, "I would have probably gone on to study about running the shrine. It's not a whole lot different from what I'm doing now. Less healing, more ritual, but a lot of it's similar." She ran the washcloth over his back, and stopped long enough to give his shoulder a little kiss. "But here, the company is so much better."

InuYasha turned around in the tub and caught her eyes, warm and open and loving. He took her hand and gave it a little squeeze. "I think I've had enough bath for the moment." As gracefully as he got into the too small tub, he unpacked himself and stood up, an almost amazing feat, and carefully stepped onto the towel she had laid on the floor.

Kagome handed him another towel, and he began drying off.

"So the company's better here, heh? Better than your little brother?"

"Brothers are…."

He put a finger to her lips. "Yeah. Don't have to tell me about that. At least your brother likes you."

She reached up and pulled out one of the hair sticks holding his bun up. A big cascade of silver hair escaped down his back. "He does, but he's my little brother. Three years watching him grow older didn't change that. He couldn't make up for what I was missing. Neither could Mama or Ojisan, and they tried hard." A shadow crossed her face, and she let go a sigh. Reaching up, she pulled out the last of the hair sticks, and the rest of his hair cascaded down his back. "I'll always have a place in my heart for them, and I miss being able to tell them things, but even being in charge of the shrine back there wouldn't make up for the company I wouldn't have there. I'm much happier studying with Kaede and maybe Miroku than anything I could have where they are."

He stepped forward, and reached out his arms, resting a hand on each of her arms, almost ready to pull her into a hug, when he caught himself. "I really need to hug you after that," he said, "But maybe I should finish drying off first."

Kagome gave him a brilliant smile. "I can wait," she said. Her smile grew slightly naughty as a heat bled into her eyes. "Long as you let me watch while you do it."

"My bold woman." He gave her a lopsided grin and grabbed a drier towel to work with. "You can do more than watch if you want to."

"Thinking about it," she said. "After you're dry, and the tub's outside, and I get the floor dry." She looked at the floor. "We splashed more than usual."

"That can be arranged," InuYasha said, finishing his toweling off before grabbing his kosode and hakama. His eyes flashed serious for a moment, and he reached up and cupped her cheek. "But only if you think you feel well enough. I'm not pushing you, you know. I can wait."

She gave him a sultry smile. "You're not pushing me into anything I'm not up for."

He took a deep breath, caught her scent, and gave her a flash of a grin. He slipped into his kosode and stepped into his hakama, well aware of her eyes on him. "Chores first."

Grabbing the tub, InuYasha gave Kagome a grin as he carried it outside and put it on the veranda, not bothering to dump the water, since it was still raining, just placing it far enough away from the door so he or Kagome wouldn't bump into it by accident before morning. "No use getting soaked after just getting dry," he said, giving it one last shove before stepping back in. He did shake off in the domo before stepping back up on the wooden floor, just in case, but he came in mostly dry.

He watched as Kagome knelt on the floor where the tub had been, wiping the last of the water off of the floor.

"We were messy tonight," she said, turning to look at him. "I don't think we've ever splashed this much water on the floor."

"It was a messy day. All day long. It's not surprising," he said with a shrug. "Want to hand me the water pot?" he asked.

Kagome straightened up and took the pot, holding the last of the water they had heated up for their bath, off the fire, and walked it over to him. He dumped the contents into the barrel they used for the house water, then stepped back up onto the wooden floor.

"Well that's done," he said. "All the bath stuff's put away."

"Almost," Kagome replied, stepping into the domo herself, where she put the wet towels that night on a rod to dry. She turned and looked at him. "Now it's done."

InuYasha jumped back onto the wooden floor and put the pot he had emptied out away, shrugged his shoulders, then gave the fire pit a good look. Walking over to his fire wood stack, he grabbed a few cut logs. "We're not going to want the fire to go all the way out tonight I think. There's a good breeze outside. Feels like it's going to rain most of the night."

"Do you think so?" Kagome said, hanging up the wet towels they had used in the domo. The sound of rain falling on their roof and splashing down to the ground was a steady sound.

"Yeah. I bet it's going to be kind of cold before morning," he replied. "Damp for sure. I want to be sure the house stays warm enough. I don't need you getting sick on top of what happened to you today." He dropped the logs next to the fire pit, then walked up to where she was working.

"I won't break, you know." She turned around in his arms. "Besides, you keep me pretty warm."

He rested his forehead on hers. "I'll keep you warmer if the room's not so cold," he replied. "And you'll be happier in the morning. We'll have a lot to do tomorrow if we're going traveling."

"Like packing?" She walked over to where the bedding was, and shook out the futon, and covered it with the quilt. "You think that's going to take long to do?"

"And you wanted to see Kaede, and Chime wanted you to drop by. It'll add up."

She sat next to the futon, combing her hair. She paused for a moment. "I thought I was supposed to relax. How did I get so busy?"

"Let me take care of the fire, and I'll help you relax," he said. He looked up at her with a suggestive grin as he stirred the coals and added new logs, and his eyes caught the firelight, giving him an almost predatory look.

Kagome licked her lips and gave him a look almost as intense, but didn't reply. Instead, she ran the comb back through her hair once more, put it aside and slipped under the covers as she watched him work.