InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ As Fate Would Have It ❯ Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 

Inuyasha was sitting on a rock nearby playing with Minako while the rest of the group recovered. Everyone, that is, except Kagome. She continued to stare at Inuyasha as though she had never seen him before.

 

“So who is taking care of the cub now?” Ayame asked.

 

“Kagome has more or less adopted her,” Miroku replied. “Minako's father's final request was that Kagome guard her with her life and she has done more than that.”

 

He looked over at the two hanyous, one white haired, one black haired. “She's loved her as only a mother can.”

 

Kouga looked at Kagome, that familiar confident look coming onto his face. “You know, Kagome, once we're mated we can raise Minako as our own, and then we'll have more cubs… OW!” Ayame hit him over the head, glaring.

 

“Baka!” she yelled. “Can't you see that she doesn't love you or want to be your mate? I'm the only one who loves you!” She froze as the words left her mouth, her cheeks blushing bright red, horrified that she had confessed her feelings so abruptly.

 

Kouga paused in rubbing the lump on his head. He looked at the redheaded Wolf youkai by his side. “You… you love me?”

 

Miroku and Sango glanced at each other and silently and respectfully moved away from their conversation.

 

Ayame looked at Kagome and back to Kouga. She stood up and walked away, with Kouga following after her, still rubbing his head. “Ow! Oi, wait! Ayame!”

 

The embarrassed she-Wolf started to run, tears starting to form in her eyes. She only made it a little ways into the woods before a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her around. She struggled in the arms of her pursuer as they held her close.

 

“Ayame, wait!” Kouga cried. “Did you mean it? Did you mean what you said?”

 

Ayame kept her eyes shut tight so that he couldn't see her tears, but they slid down her cheeks anyway. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

 

“You said you loved me. Was that true?”

 

“Why does it matter? You love Kagome!”

 

“I thought you only wanted to marry me because I was the tribe leader and because of that stupid promise I made!”

 

“Well, you did promise me first! And it wasn't stupid!”

 

“Baka! You can't love me because of that promise!”

 

“You're the baka! It has nothing to do with who you are or because of some promise you made to me when I was a child!”

 

“Ha! Then why do you keep bringing it up?”

 

“Because I wanted you to marry me!”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I love you, remember?”

 

Kouga chuckled. “Oh, yeah,” he said with a wolfish grin. “I remember.” And with that finally said, he tightened his hold on his she-Wolf, dipped his head and kissed her long and hard.

 

When he finally released her, she stood there, stunned, and stared into his eyes. “What?” he asked.

 

“What about Kagome?”

 

He chuckled again. “I'm pretty sure dog-shit will console her broken heart. After all, she'll be devastated when she finds out I can't marry her.”

 

Ayame gave him a wry look. “Oh? You can't marry her now?”

 

“Nope. I'm already promised to someone else.”

 

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Kagome remained where she had been sitting, still watching Inuyasha and Minako with a whole mixture of emotions on her face, oblivious to anything else going on. Her whole world revolved around those two hanyous in her life. She stood up and walked over to where they sat.

 

“Oi, Inuyasha,” Kagome said softly. He turned around and saw her looking at him with a smile on her face.

 

Minako saw Kagome and giggled happily, reaching her little arms out for her adoptive mother. He handed her to Kagome and then folded his hands inside his sleeves.

 

“So are you going to leave her here with Kouga and Ayame or are you gonna keep her?”

 

Kagome settled Minako in her arms and started rocking the suddenly sleepy baby. Minako yawned a few times, fighting sleep with all her little strength.

 

“I… I don't know what I should do. I only want what's best for her.”

 

“They're not going to know what to do with her.”

 

“What?” Kagome looked confused. “What do you mean?”

 

Inuyasha looked straight into her eyes. “I mean that they're not going to know what to do with a hanyou. You and I both know how he feels about `mutts.' Ayame has said pretty much the same thing to me before, so she's no better.”

 

Kagome sighed in agreement, looking down at the peacefully sleeping baby. “Still- she's his niece. And I don't know how to raise a hanyou either…”

 

“I do.”

 

Kagome lifted her head in shock, staring into Inuyasha's gold eyes. “Wha-?”

 

He held her gaze for a moment. “I could do it,” he said, then he looked down at Minako. “I mean, we could do it….” A slight blush stained his cheeks.

 

“…together.”

 

Kagome was speechless for a long time. When she finally managed to create a logical thought and a coherent sentence, there were tears in her eyes.

 

“Hai,” she agreed. “We'll do it together.”

 

Inuyasha looked at Kagome, a stunned look on his face. The blush on his cheeks reddened. “Y-you… want to?” he stammered. “I-I mean, w-with me?”

 

Kagome only nodded.

 

Silence loomed for a moment as Inuyasha gazed into Kagome's beautiful brown eyes. Beautiful? When did he finally notice that his Kagome was beautiful? When did he stop seeing her as just a jewel shard finder? Or worse, as Kikyou's reincarnation?

 

Something odd swelled up inside his chest that he just couldn't put a name to. Fear, loneliness, hatred, anger- these were emotions he knew and understood. This feeling he had whenever he was with Kagome, or even when she wasn't around…

 

Was it true then? Could Miroku and Sango have been right about his true feelings toward Kagome?

 

Impulsively, he reached out and grasped Kagome's free hand in one of his. As soon has he touched her, he knew. As surely as there was a moon in the sky, he knew.

 

He loved her. With his entire mean, rude, unworthy hanyou heart, he loved her. Not in the same way he had loved Kikyou- no. Kikyou had merely opened his heart so that it was capable of love. Kagome, ah Kagome took his heart and filled it to overflowing with her own love and compassion.

 

Inuyasha's heart had finally been freed. He pulled a carpe diem and released Kagome's hand to place both of his hands on either side of her neck, his thumbs resting gently on her cheeks in front of her ears.

 

As swiftly as he had captured her, he pulled her to him. But his intent was not to hug her, as he had done often before. Oh no.

 

He brought her face to his, pressing his lips to hers. In one bold move, he had gone from a confused hanyou to an understanding man. He thought she might pull away, so he held her firmly, yet gently, as he held the kiss.

 

When he finally let her go, he looked into her eyes and held his breath, afraid of what she might say next. She blinked as though dazed.

 

“What was that for?” she murmured, a stunned look on her face.

 

“Uh…” White ears twitched.

 

She leaned closer, until their noses were almost touching. He could smell her scent, of wildflowers and sunshine, of summer and warmth, all around him. He turned crimson.

 

“Was it an accident?”

 

“Keh! No!”

 

“You mean you kissed me on purpose?”

 

Blink. “…Maybe…”

 

“Why?”

 

There was a whole barrel-full of reasons why, yet the only reason he could come up with was-

 

“Because I wanted to, that's why!”

 

The best reason of all.

 

Kagome blushed. “But I thought you were going to be with…Kikyou,” she said softly, looking down at the sleeping baby. “I mean, you loved her and promised her…”

 

He cut her off. “Look, wench, I did have feelings for her, but that was fifty years ago!” he shouted. “And in case you hadn't noticed, she's dead.”

 

Kagome punched him in the arm. “Keep it down, baka!” she hissed. “You'll wake the baby.”

 

He mentally grinned. However, he had an image to maintain. “Besides, woman,” he said in a low voice, keeping up the gruff façade he usually bore, “I have to take care of my family now. I can't keep chasing after specters from the past.”

 

Kagome stared at him, speechless.

 

Minako yawned and stretched, lifting her little arms up over her head as far as they would go and arching her back. Inuyasha looked down at the little hanyou with half a grin. Then he frowned and looked up, glaring at someone behind Kagome.

 

Kouga and Ayame had walked up behind them, looking a bit disheveled and extremely satisfied. Inuyasha's jaw dropped and he quickly closed it. He muttered a “keh!” and stuffed his hands inside his sleeves. Trust that wolf to ruin the mood…

 

“Well, Kagome,” Kouga said cheerfully, “we'll be taking that little mongrel off your hands now.”

 

Kagome gasped. Inuyasha surged to his feet and faced off against the Wolf demon leader, growling deep in his throat. “What did you call her??”

 

“I called her Kagome- why?”

 

“No, shit-for-brains,” Inuyasha growled again. “You know perfectly well what I'm talking about!”

 

“What?” Kouga asked with a grin. “That's what she is. She may be my niece, but she's still a mutt.” He leaned forward and stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha. “Just like someone else I know.”

 

Kagome sat there, stunned. She had known that Kouga had always referred to Inuyasha as “mutt-face” and other derogatory terms, but she hadn't realized how deep his aversion to hanyous really ran. She looked at Ayame and to her surprise, the she-Wolf was grinning like mad, totally approving of Kouga's explanation. She hugged Minako tighter in her arms as though trying to protect the little girl from all the evils of the world with her presence alone.

 

“Look, it's not like you have any other choice, Kagome,” Ayame added, still with that damned grin on her face. “You're just a kid yourself- Kouga and I are way older than you and we'd have a better idea of how to raise cubs. It's part of being a part of the Wolf demon tribe. Even though she's just a half-breed.” Ayame made a face for a split second, then that grin was back.

 

“There's no way she'll keep up with other cubs, but what other choice does she really have?” Kouga asked Ayame scornfully. “Mutts like them are just that- mongrels, with all of the problems and none of the benefits of us full youkai.”

 

Kagome was about to explode and rain down a volcano of fire and fury onto the two Wolf youkai that stood there and acted like they were doing Minako a favor by offering to take her into their den. Inuyasha beat her to it.

 

Before Kouga knew what was happening, he was laid out flat on the ground, caught off guard with Inuyasha's fist connecting with his jaw.

 

“How in the hell do you think we're going to let you take Minako and raise her as an outcast just because she's a hanyou?“ he yelled, his hand resting on Tetsusaiga's hilt, shaking with the effort to not pull the fang-sword out and blast the damned Wolves to the netherworld. “She's better than you and your stupid bitch combined!”

 

Still seething with anger, hatred, and loathing, Inuyasha snorted at Kouga on the ground, ignoring Ayame as he turned back to Kagome and Minako.

 

The little hanyou looked up at Inuyasha with those sapphire eyes and all his anger dissipated. He smiled at Kagome, a genuine smile, something she rarely saw. She smiled back as he reached over to take Minako from her arms.

 

“Now, gimme my daughter, would ya?”

 

 

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Author's note: NO, I do not really feel that Kouga or Ayame would be this cruel, but for the sake of my story, they are portrayed as prejudiced. My apologies to all Kouga fangirls (I happen to be one of you)!