InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Basic Instinct 2 ❯ Happiness On Hold ( Chapter 2 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: SplendentGoddess 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Psychological / Hentai / Drama | Type: Fanfiction Sequel | Uploaded On: 04.27.2010 | Updated On: 04.27.2010 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.4K | Visits: 8.2K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Psychological / Hentai / Drama | Type: Fanfiction Sequel | Uploaded On: 04.27.2010 | Updated On: 04.27.2010 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.4K | Visits: 8.2K | Status: Completed
Blanket Disclaimer:
Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.
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Chapter 2 – Happiness On Hold
“Ohhhh, that baka…” Kagome grumbled to herself for the umpteenth time. “How are we doing, Kirara?” she asked the nekomata.
“Mrrrrow.”
Almost immediately after Shippou’s translation had sunk in, Kagome had spun around and asked Sango if she could borrow Kirara, before kneeling and addressing the then kitten-sized youkai personally, asking the cat if she could track Inuyasha’s scent. Kirara’s response had been to transform into her full size, and the two had been racing through the forest ever since. Kirara was flying low to the ground, so as not to jostle Kagome too badly as would be the case if she actually ran, but easily able to follow the hanyou-turned-inu’s scent at such close proximity to the ground, the nekomata was fairly confident they would be catching up to him soon; his scent trail was getting stronger by the minute.
Kirara found that she had to agree with her charge, Inuyasha was a baka. So he had been turned into a dog, what was so bad about that? Then again, Kirara suspected that it wasn’t so much the form itself that bothered him, but what the woman currently riding on her back would think about said form that had the hanyou so skittish.
“Kirara, do you think I treat you any differently?” Kagome asked out of the blue, as if reading her thoughts, and the nekomata shook her head in the negative.
In her opinion, the miko from the well had never displayed any difficulty with comprehending the fact that she was just as intelligent as any higher, humanoid youkai. Sure, she utilized her abilities in situations such as this one, as they flew through the forest together, but that was what she was for, to assist humans in that capacity. Kirara would never believe for an instant that her mistress Sango, for example, thought of her as nothing more than a flying horse. That simply wasn’t true, they were comrades in battle, and besides, how many times had the miko ridden on Inuyasha’s back? With a humanoid body, no less… Even little Shippou had occasionally transformed to offer his services as a steed when the situation had called for it, and one shouldn’t forget about Miroku’s companion, Hachi, whom even she herself had ridden upon with the others while in kitten form. Kirara didn’t mind assisting the humans in such a fashion, and she did not believe the miko thought little of her for her services. She was as much a member of the inu-tachi as the rest of them.
Catching up to her prey a few minutes later, Kirara slowed to a crawl before silently touching down on the forest floor, grateful when she felt the miko dismount without question. The girl was smart, and knew that she needed to be quiet. Doing her best to smile in Kagome’s direction despite the shape of her mouth, Kirara then turned and butted her head gently against the miko’s back, indicating which way she should travel. Silently, Kagome mouthed “Thank you.” to the neko-youkai before turning and heading in the indicated direction.
It didn’t take her long to find him. Clearing the brush, Kagome headed around a large tree and suddenly there he was, lying on his stomach with his chin on his paws. Both ears immediately turned in her direction, and he shot to his feet.
“Please don’t make me say it!” Kagome said quickly as she saw the way his body tensed to run away again.
With his ears pinning backward at the reminder of the beaded necklace his still wore…the only thing he currently wore…Inuyasha reluctantly lied back down, his head up and watching her every move as she shifted around before kneeling beside him.
“Inuyasha, why did you run off like that?” Kagome asked him, as if she actually believed he could answer her with words she would understand.
He just stared at her incredulously. His eyes, she realized in that moment, were unchanged by his transformation, and they were still the same windows to his soul she had found them to be on the night of Kikyou’s first spell.
“Did you honestly think I would suddenly stop loving you?”
His eyes widened at her words, his ears shifting forward.
“This means I’m yours for life, remember?” Kagome stated while showing the mark on her throat, though her tone of voice was almost cheerful, and exceedingly optimistic. “I bet this new spell of hers is just as temporary as the last one, or even if it won’t wear off by itself, then there has to be a way to undo it. Don’t give up on us so easily, all right?”
Inuyasha was floored, and despite himself, his tail started wagging. Kagome giggled behind her hand at the sight, but realizing that she wasn’t really laughing at him, he let it go as he rose to his feet; all four of them. He stood only to Kagome’s hips. His mass hadn’t changed as a result of the spell, making him a giant inu-youkai like what Sesshoumaru was capable of transforming into. He also didn’t possess the ability to fly, which he would were he suddenly a full-blooded inu-youkai. Instead, it was as if the human half of him had been magically transformed into a normal dog, leaving his youkai half alone, so that he still had his intelligence and powers, only now he was trapped in an unchanging canine body instead of an unchanging humanoid one. In a way, he was still a hanyou of sorts; he was still a half-demon. Whatever Kikyou had done to him, he just prayed that there really was a way to undo it. Kagome may say she still loved him, but there was only so far she would be willing to take that love while he was stuck in the body of a dog.
I guess I should have rutted her in the woods, after all… he mentally pouted as he turned while woofing over his shoulder at Kagome to climb onto his back, which she seemed to understand by his gesture as she obeyed him in that moment, straddling him. Oh kami… he mentally groaned at the feel of her heat pressing against his spine. Could things get any worse?
As for the miko, she’d caught the remorseful look he’d given her as he asked her to climb on, and she had a pretty good idea where his thoughts had wandered off to.
Our relationship isn’t about sex… Kagome told herself with conviction. I proved that by asking him to mark me without mating, and the love I feel for him in my heart hasn’t changed.
Still…
There’s got to be a way to change him back, but…what if there isn’t?
How far would she be willing to go to prove her love? Just because their relationship wasn’t based on sex didn’t mean she would truly be happy in a sexless relationship. But Kagome figured she was getting way too ahead of herself. There was a way to change him back. Wasn’t there?
Kikyou’s words from that night at the Inn suddenly took on a whole new meaning.
My heart shall remain loyal to him, no matter what.
Of that she was certain.
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The trip back to the others was silent, for obvious reasons, but not as uncomfortable as he had feared it would be. Not wanting to make the trip too bumpy for his mate, Inuyasha kept his pace at a smooth lope, allowing the inu plenty of time to contemplate recent developments. Just when he thought his life was turning around for the better, having friends who accepted him for what he was, having a mate who accepted him for what he was, what he was had to go and be changed against his will. Would they still accept him now? How could they? And how long before Kagome grew tired of waiting to find a cure? Was there a cure? What if he was stuck like that forever? The only thing that kept him thinking semi-positively in that moment was the presence of the girl currently riding on his back. It was kind of hard to convince himself that she could never possibly look at him the same way ever again, when she had just spent the last two hours tracking him down, only to tell him that she still loved him.
What kind of a mate was he? Had he truly been so willing to give Kagome up? No…not really. He hadn’t really been running away for good, Inuyasha knew, although he couldn’t really explain himself to Kagome in great detail at the moment. Initially, he had been chasing after Kikyou, after asking quick forgiveness for having allowed this disaster to happen in the first place. It was his fault, after all, for having allowed Kikyou to get the drop on them. He knew Shippou would translate for him, but apparently Kagome had misunderstood his actual meaning, not that he blamed her. He sure hadn’t been in a great hurry to return. After losing sight of Kikyou when the undead miko had taken higher to the sky, and still having no trace of a scent to follow, Inuyasha had continued to wander aimlessly for a while before finally plopping down, hoping to think of some kind of a solution. He would’ve eventually dragged his ass back to his friends, but Kagome had come for him before he’d gotten the chance, proving just how loyal she truly was. Of course, part of him had also been ashamed for her to see him in such a condition, which was the real reason why he had been preparing to dart off again before she’d threatened him with the o word, but he was glad that she had. He’d needed to hear what she’d had to say. While he still wasn’t happy about it, he was much more optimistic, now, that something could actually be done to rectify the situation. It might take a while, but he definitely had something worth waiting for.
Finally closing in on the area where they had left the others, Inuyasha came to a stop to allow Kagome to rise from his back. It would be getting dark soon, so they would need to find a place to setup camp. He could go scout ahead for that, but didn’t want to risk her thinking he was abandoning her again, so reluctantly, he walked with her the last few steps until they reached the others.
“Kagome!” Sango spoke up quickly, the slayer having become worried when Kirara returned alone.
“And Inuyasha, I see…” Miroku added, taking note of the obvious intelligence shining in the white dog’s yellow eyes.
Said white dog woofed in that moment, which the humans quickly realized hadn’t been directed towards them.
Shippou bound forward at the summons, and then proceeded to do something that none of the humans, or inu-hanyou, had been expecting. He transformed himself into a fox. The kit then proceeded to yip and bark at Inuyasha in the canine native tongue, which was much easier for him to form properly with a fox’s throat than a humanoid’s.
“You idiot! Why did you go running off like that?! There’s got to be a way to change you back! And even if there isn’t, Kagome’s you’re mate forever, no matter what!”
“Don’t you think I know that?!” Inuyasha growled back, hating the reminder as his ears lowered to his head, his tail hanging limply. He loathed the idea that he had trapped Kagome to him, if he were truly trapped as a dog for the rest of eternity. What kind of a future was that? It wasn’t a future…
“Look, tell the others I’m gonna go scout out a place to make camp. I’ll be back.” With that said, Inuyasha turned and bound off through the trees.
Kagome had been watching the whole exchange with a moderate amount of understanding, betting she could guess what had been said between the kitsune and inu even though she honestly hadn’t understood a word of it. As Inuyasha turned and trotted off, something told the miko not to panic, that he wasn’t just up and leaving. Shippou confirmed her beliefs when he popped back into his part-fox/part-boy form and said “He said he’s gonna go find a place to make camp. He’ll be back.”
True to his word, Inuyasha returned a few minutes later, and a low woof told the inu-tachi that he wanted them to follow him. Doing so, they were led to a small clearing that would function quite well as a camping spot for the night. They would reach Kaede’s by mid-day tomorrow, and then hopefully the elder miko would know what her undead sister had done, and even more importantly, how to undo it.
Dinner preparations were mildly awkward, as Kagome was unsure of how to go about serving Inuyasha his ramen, but he answered her unasked question when he proceeded to head over and snatch one of the cups of ramen right out of her hand. True, he couldn’t hold chopsticks in his current condition, but in their place he had a muzzle that was long and narrow enough to allow him to eat right out of the Styrofoam cup like a bowl, as he proceeded to do just that, slurping up his ramen with only slightly less gusto than on any normal night.
After dinner was over, as Miroku and Sango both settled into their respective sleeping rolls for the night, Kagome pulled out Inuyasha’s kimono from her backpack, along with some thread and a needle, and proceeded to start stitching it back together by firelight. Silently walking over to her position by the fire, Inuyasha plopped down on his haunches, tilting his head to gaze at her work with curiosity, before woofing at her quietly.
“I know…I know…the fire-rat fur will heal itself, but it’ll do that much faster if shown where it needs to reattach itself, like setting a broken bone so that it can knit properly.” she explained quietly so as not to disturb their friends, holding up her work to reveal that she wasn’t sewing his robes anywhere near as meticulously as would be required were the garments not self-restoring.
Inuyasha just stared at her with wide, unblinking eyes, at the realization that she could still understand his dog-form so fully. She had seemed to be able to read him so well when his mind had been reduced to nothing more than that of a dog, so maybe…maybe things wouldn’t be so bad, after all. That is, it wouldn’t be so bad in the mean time, until they found a way to reverse the spell. They would find a way to reverse the spell…
Leaning forward hesitantly, he offered Kagome a quick lick across the cheek. Turning her head in surprise, she beamed at him with her brightest smile as she whispered “I love you, too.” before leaning forward herself and kissing his nose. He would have blushed at the gesture, were dogs capable of blushing.
Putting her sewing away a few minutes later, Kagome murmured a quiet “Good night…” before moving herself over to her sleeping bag. Kirara and Shippou were already cuddled together on the other side of the fire, so having the available space, Kagome thought to offer Inuyasha the option of lying with her again. She didn’t want him to think she would be put out by the idea, if he were interested. Quite the opposite, in fact, Kagome wouldn’t mind cuddling up against a warm, furry dog for the night in the slightest. He was actually really cute, although she was doing her best to resist the urge to pet him, lest he fear she truly thought any less of him now. He was not an animal, no matter what his form, and Kagome understood that. Turning her head to glance in his direction in that moment, her new angle so close to the ground provided the miko with an excellent, albeit unexpected view of what she was sure he hadn’t meant for her to see, as he continued to sit on his haunches just a few feet away.
Oh crap! she panicked, turning her head away quickly. She had forgotten that Inuyasha was naked!
Said inu-hanyou, having caught the way Kagome turned towards him only to look away again much too quickly, didn’t take long to realize what had happened, though instead of being embarrassed from flashing the girl, he mentally chuckled at his mate’s own embarrassment. Had she already forgotten how she’d had her hand wrapped tightly around that same part of his anatomy just a few short days ago? As soon as Kaede was able to reverse the spell, he planned on whisking Kagome away so they could finish what they’d started. The urge to mate with her was getting more and more powerful by the day. In the mean time, however, it truly meant the world to him that she hadn’t immediately turned her back on him, willing to stick by him for however long it would take to change him back. Walking forward, he plopped himself down beside Kagome in that moment, leaning himself against her.
Smiling as she felt him join her, the miko rolled back over and wrapped her arm around Inuyasha’s back, holding him to her as though he were a giant teddy bear.
From the other side of the fire, Miroku and Sango both chose not to comment, as they silently grinned at the sight of Inuyasha’s tail wagging.
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I guess things could’ve been a lot worse… Inuyasha contemplated silently as he walked beside Kagome behind all the others during the last leg of their journey back to Kaede’s.
Things really could’ve been a lot worse, if Kikyou’s spell had also affected his mind, although he was pretty sure he knew why she had chosen to leave his mind intact while only warping his body. She had wanted both Kagome and him to suffer, and he wouldn’t have suffered if he’d been rendered too stupid to know any better, so this way, Kikyou was assured that they were both miserable, in their own unique ways.
Kaede will change me back, and then I’ll hunt that bitch down and-
Inuyasha was pulled from his thoughts when the woman beside him gasped, a hand flying to her chest. Immediately on high alert, his ears swiveled frantically atop his head, as Sango and Miroku both turned around to ask Kagome what had happened.
“I sense two jewel shards, coming fast!” she revealed, dread swelling up in her scent.
Ah, crap… Inuyasha groaned internally, sniffing the air only to confirm his mate’s words.
As if things hadn’t been touchy enough, it was in that moment that a whirlwind zipped upon them through the trees, coming to a stop and dissipating to reveal Kouga’s smug form.
“Kagome…how is my- What the hell happened to Dog-shit?!”
Inuyasha snarled while the ookami-youkai laughed openly at his expense.
“It’s a long story, but it’s temporary, so no need to worry yourself.” Kagome replied with a slightly more bitter tone of voice than anyone had ever heard her use towards the wolf before, not that the ookami noticed, his mirth still obvious as he gazed in Inuyasha’s direction with zero sympathy.
“You’ve really done it to yourself this time, haven’t you InuKuso? Come on, Kagome, you’ll be safer with me until he finds a way to change back. Can’t protect you with that powerful sword of his while he doesn’t have any hands.” he commented, gesturing to the sheathed katana Kagome currently carried among her arrows in the quiver across her back.
As Kouga took a step in Kagome’s directly, Inuyasha moved into a protective stance in front of the miko, barking and growling out a series of threats that were promptly ignored.
Smirking, Kouga met Kagome’s eyes and stated “He said you should go ahead and come with me. That he’s not fit to protect you like this.”
“That’s a lie!” Shippou yelled from his place on Miroku’s shoulder. “He said to leave Kagome the fuck alone!”
“Shippou!” Kagome scolded, turning her attention to the kitsune as she stated “You don’t need to quote him word for word, I don’t want you using that kind of language!”
“Sorry, Kagome…” the boy murmured.
“At least we have an honest translator.” Miroku chimed in, adding “Kouga, I find it exceedingly hard to believe that Inuyasha would so quickly and willingly release all rights to his mate.”
Inuyasha stopped growling and glared at Kouga smugly, while Kagome winced in preparation for the new level of hostility she was sure they were about to be faced with. Although, truth be told, Kouga really should have noticed the change in their scents on his own. It was only because he was so joyfully distracted by Inuyasha’s plight that he hadn’t been paying that much attention to anything else.
Immediately silenced by the houshi’s words, Kouga glared at his woman long and hard, breathing deeply through his nose. Then his eyes widened.
“No…it can’t be…”
“It’s true, Kouga. Inuyasha’s always been the one I’ve wanted. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt you, but I just think of you as a friend.”
Kouga nodded slowly, a sudden hardness in his eyes that made him look cold and calculating.
“You should have just told me you preferred fucking animals. I can transform, you know.”
Kagome recoiled as though she had been slapped, but she didn’t have long to feel shocked by Kouga’s words as he growled fiercely in that moment before his blue eyes shifted to demonic red, as fur overtook his entire body. Instead of tearing out of his clothing, his primitive wraps appeared to become a part of himself, just like Sesshoumaru’s pristine robes remained unharmed whenever he transformed, and the next thing everyone knew, a large black and brown wolf was charging at Inuyasha, teeth snapping. The white dog didn’t back down from the challenge, as he met Kouga’s slightly larger form head on, and the inu-tachi suddenly had a very violent, very dangerous dog fight on their hands.
Kagome didn’t dare use the subjugation command. She didn’t doubt that Kouga would move in for the kill while her mate was immobilized if she did. This was far different from any of their other fights, and not just in the sense that they were both currently in animal form. Before, Kagome had always believed that they would never seriously try to injure one another. This time, it was to the death.
Not if I can help it… the miko thought with determination, but what could she do?
“Sango!” she shouted suddenly, racing over to the slayer and whispering something in her ear.
Nodding, the taijiya reached into her robes and got herself into position. In the next moment, Shippou was holding his hands over his mouth and nose while the smoke cleared, two unconscious but otherwise unharmed canine youkai lying where they’d fallen thanks to her stink pellets. Well, “unharmed” was a relative term, once everyone took note of how much blood had been shed. Inuyasha’s wounds were especially visible, thanks to his silvery white fur, but Kouga was not without his own share of damage, if the tremendous about of blood around Inuyasha’s mouth was any indication.
Quickly moving into position to treat Inuyasha’s wounds, it was decided that Kouga would be moved off to the side, sealed with a sutra that would not injure him but would prevent him from moving, once he finally came-to. In the mean time, Kagome prodded through Inuyasha’s fur for a few minutes, until deciding that most of the bites were nothing more than small scrapes and tears that would heal just fine on their own. Kouga had taken a couple of good chunks out of him on his side, near his right shoulder, and so Kagome concentrated on those areas. Inuyasha came-to to the smell and sting of medicine, and groaning in a very dog-like fashion, he lifted his head slightly to observe what Kagome was doing.
“Shhh, don’t move around too much, there’s torn muscle here.” she told him gently as she applied a bandage, patting him on the head before she even realized what she was doing.
His ears lowered at the contact, and silently, he plopped his head back down to the ground.
Oops…but I probably would have done that anyway.
She’d patted Inuyasha on the head before, not that he really appreciated it all that much even in hanyou form. But what was done was done, so it would probably be best to just move on without dwelling on that one for too long. A groan from the other side of their makeshift camp offered the perfect distraction in that moment. Kagome felt more than heard her patient start growling, but she effectively shushed him as she whispered “He can’t move, we have him pinned with a sutra, and no, I have not treated his wounds, nor will I.”
Inuyasha immediately stopped growling, completely in awe at her words. She wouldn’t be treating that bastard’s wounds? For Kagome, something like that was completely unheard of. She must be very angry with Kouga.
Which worked out perfectly, since it just so happened that Kouga was very angry with Kagome.
“Damn it, Kagome, get this fucking thing off of me!” the ookami suddenly demanded, having managed to shift himself back into his humanoid form, because that change was accomplished through his magic, although he still couldn’t move physically thanks to the sutra on his back.
“Not until we’re ready to leave, and not until you promise to leave us alone.” the miko replied, her tone colder than anyone had ever heard her use before. This time, the ookami noticed.
“What’s gotten into you, Kagome? I mean, besides the mutt.”
Inuyasha began growling again.
Ignoring Inuyasha, and also ignoring the shocked and outraged expressions of her friends, Kagome sprung to her feet before stomping over in Kouga’s direction. As he lay sprawled out on his side in his humanoid form, his injuries were more easily noticeable, but Kagome was more than familiar with the workings of youkai by that point, and she knew that he would recover. She knew that Inuyasha would’ve recovered without treatment, too, but she liked treating Inuyasha’s wounds. She loved him, and she wanted to care for him.
“Let’s get a few things straight, Kouga.” Kagome began, making sure to stand far back enough so that his eyes could reach her face, since he couldn’t move his head. She also didn’t want to risk giving him any glances up her skirt.
“Inuyasha and I became mates before this happened to him, not that it’s any of your business one way or the other. Even stuck as a dog, Inuyasha is twice the man you could ever be, and even though we will change him back, supposing, just supposing there wasn’t a way to reverse this spell, he’s still my mate. His claim is valid, and he has every right to fight for me when somebody is too stupid to realize they should just leave me alone. I’m off limits, no matter what.”
Inuyasha immediately stopped growling at Kagome’s words, not that anyone noticed with how loudly Kouga was suddenly snarling, spouting off things such as “You were mine first!” and other such nonsense that nobody was honestly paying all that much attention to. They were just observing him making a fool of himself, waiting for him to calm down so that Kagome could undoubtedly tell him off again. Silently, Inuyasha ran over his mate’s words a few times…over and over…trying to find some other meaning than what he thought she’d meant. He couldn’t possibly have heard her right. No… Truly, all she’d said was that they were still mates, regardless of his appearance, and ultimately, that was the truth, since a mating bond couldn’t be undone. So she’d meant that she would remain forever loyal to him in the sense that she wouldn’t abandon him to take any other mate. Yes, that was what she’d meant.
Still, he found her level of love and sacrifice quite humbling. To give up having a lover, to give up having children…
Staggering to his feet, Inuyasha limped over to Kagome’s position, coming up beside her so that he brushed up against her hand with the top of his head, his silent way of letting her know that he forgave her for the little slipup of her petting him. Supposing, just supposing that he was going to be stuck like that for a while, he might as well try to embrace the notion. Subconsciously reaching the same conclusion, Kagome cupped her hand over Inuyasha’s head, scratching an ear for a moment as she continued to stare down in Kouga’s direction.
“We’re going to be heading on our way now, Kouga.” Kagome stated after the ookami-youkai finally grew tired of the sound of his own voice.
Stepping forward, Kouga thought Kagome was moving to remove his sutra, so it was understandable that his scent spiked with horror at the realization that she had moved to his shins.
“I guess I should take these while I’m at it, probably waited too long as it is...” she muttered more to herself as she popped out the jewel shards in his legs with virtually no effort. At her touch, the small amount of taint in the shards from being connected to a youkai immediately disappeared, allowing the purified shards to fall away from Kouga’s flesh as they basically rejected him.
Sango and Miroku both stared wide-eyed, though they knew better than to comment as the miko stepped away from Kouga’s prone form, putting his shards with their others in the little glass bottle she carried.
She then stepped back to once again stand beside Inuyasha, as she silently drew an arrow from her quiver before notching it loosely in her bow. Kouga’s eyes widened, the only part of his body besides his mouth that he could currently move.
“Do you promise to leave us alone?” she asked, her voice a steady deception of the tremors in her body.
Wordlessly, Kouga gulped, and he would’ve merely nodded his uneasy promise, but because the sutra on his back prevented even that minimal movement, he finally forced his vocal cords to function as he uttered a faint “Yes…”
“Okay, Miroku, remove the sutra.” she stated then, her arrow still aimed, though not yet pulled back to fire.
Quickly snapping to attention, the monk wordlessly complied with Kagome’s request, praying that the ookami-youkai didn’t attempt to call her bluff. Miroku knew that Kagome had no desire to shoot him, she was merely gambling that Kouga wouldn’t know that.
As soon as he could move, Kouga bolted to his feet, though he didn’t immediately make a run for the hills, as everyone had secretly been hoping.
“You won’t possibly change your mind?” he asked her dejectedly.
Swinging her head around to flip her hair out of the way, she bared her throat at him, or more accurately, her mating mark, as she said “Does it look like I could change my mind?”
Beside her, Inuyasha flinched, hoping Kagome hadn’t meant that the way it’d sounded. Nevertheless, Kouga finally seemed to get the hint, as he lowered his head in defeat before turning and running off without another word. With shaking hands, Kagome dropped her bow and arrow, collapsing to her knees as silent tears streamed down her face. Instantly forgetting his own problems, Inuyasha was licking away her tears, trying his best to tell her that everything would be all right. He was so proud of her for standing up to Kouga, especially since he knew it would’ve killed her inside to have to actually fire an arrow at him. A clearing throat brought the inu-hanyou back to himself as he glanced up to see Miroku’s comical grin, while Sango was far too obvious in her attempt to look elsewhere.
Sending a glare Miroku’s way, Inuyasha turned back to the kneeling miko before him and woofed quietly.
Coming up beside the pair, Shippou translated.
“He said ‘Don’t cry.’”
Laughing shakily, Kagome reached up with both hands to wipe at her red and puffy face for a moment, before silently thanking Inuyasha with her eyes as she rose to her feet. After collecting her fallen weapon, she turned to her friends and said “Well, come on. We’re almost there, and then hopefully Kaede will be able to shed some light on this subject.”
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“I see…” the elderly miko commented once everything had been explained to her fully. “I am not unfamiliar with this spell. However, I have never before seen it applied to one of demonic blood. It is dark magic, and typically used to transform humans into farm animals, such as a pig or a goat.”
Kagome sat with wide eyes, nodding eagerly as she took in everything the elderly miko explained. Who knew that such old wives tales of magic were actually true? That witches really could turn someone into a newt, to coin a phrase. Hopefully Inuyasha would ‘get better’.
Kaede continued to explain that the spell, as she understood it, never affected the mind, but merely the body, leaving its victims forever trapped in the form of whatever animal their tormentor had chosen. The ‘forever’ part earned a gasp from the younger miko before Kaede quickly explained that, under normal circumstances, the spell was simply never reversed. She then went on to assure them all that she was quite certain the spell could be reversed, although the bad news was that only Kikyou knew the key was.
“Key?” Miroku asked.
“As is with the workings of this particular magic, it must be bound to a key, that will unlock it, upon its time of creation. However, the nature of that key is at the sole discretion of the witch.” she explained.
“So basically, there is something that will undo this spell, because there has to be something that will undo this spell in order for it to have been created in the first place, but only Kikyou knows what that is?” Sango asked for clarification.
“Precisely.”
Ears lowering upon his head, Inuyasha whimpered, earning himself an ear scratch from Kagome that did nothing to raise his spirits.
“We’ll get through this,” she assured her mate. “Somehow.”
Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.
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Chapter 2 – Happiness On Hold
“Ohhhh, that baka…” Kagome grumbled to herself for the umpteenth time. “How are we doing, Kirara?” she asked the nekomata.
“Mrrrrow.”
Almost immediately after Shippou’s translation had sunk in, Kagome had spun around and asked Sango if she could borrow Kirara, before kneeling and addressing the then kitten-sized youkai personally, asking the cat if she could track Inuyasha’s scent. Kirara’s response had been to transform into her full size, and the two had been racing through the forest ever since. Kirara was flying low to the ground, so as not to jostle Kagome too badly as would be the case if she actually ran, but easily able to follow the hanyou-turned-inu’s scent at such close proximity to the ground, the nekomata was fairly confident they would be catching up to him soon; his scent trail was getting stronger by the minute.
Kirara found that she had to agree with her charge, Inuyasha was a baka. So he had been turned into a dog, what was so bad about that? Then again, Kirara suspected that it wasn’t so much the form itself that bothered him, but what the woman currently riding on her back would think about said form that had the hanyou so skittish.
“Kirara, do you think I treat you any differently?” Kagome asked out of the blue, as if reading her thoughts, and the nekomata shook her head in the negative.
In her opinion, the miko from the well had never displayed any difficulty with comprehending the fact that she was just as intelligent as any higher, humanoid youkai. Sure, she utilized her abilities in situations such as this one, as they flew through the forest together, but that was what she was for, to assist humans in that capacity. Kirara would never believe for an instant that her mistress Sango, for example, thought of her as nothing more than a flying horse. That simply wasn’t true, they were comrades in battle, and besides, how many times had the miko ridden on Inuyasha’s back? With a humanoid body, no less… Even little Shippou had occasionally transformed to offer his services as a steed when the situation had called for it, and one shouldn’t forget about Miroku’s companion, Hachi, whom even she herself had ridden upon with the others while in kitten form. Kirara didn’t mind assisting the humans in such a fashion, and she did not believe the miko thought little of her for her services. She was as much a member of the inu-tachi as the rest of them.
Catching up to her prey a few minutes later, Kirara slowed to a crawl before silently touching down on the forest floor, grateful when she felt the miko dismount without question. The girl was smart, and knew that she needed to be quiet. Doing her best to smile in Kagome’s direction despite the shape of her mouth, Kirara then turned and butted her head gently against the miko’s back, indicating which way she should travel. Silently, Kagome mouthed “Thank you.” to the neko-youkai before turning and heading in the indicated direction.
It didn’t take her long to find him. Clearing the brush, Kagome headed around a large tree and suddenly there he was, lying on his stomach with his chin on his paws. Both ears immediately turned in her direction, and he shot to his feet.
“Please don’t make me say it!” Kagome said quickly as she saw the way his body tensed to run away again.
With his ears pinning backward at the reminder of the beaded necklace his still wore…the only thing he currently wore…Inuyasha reluctantly lied back down, his head up and watching her every move as she shifted around before kneeling beside him.
“Inuyasha, why did you run off like that?” Kagome asked him, as if she actually believed he could answer her with words she would understand.
He just stared at her incredulously. His eyes, she realized in that moment, were unchanged by his transformation, and they were still the same windows to his soul she had found them to be on the night of Kikyou’s first spell.
“Did you honestly think I would suddenly stop loving you?”
His eyes widened at her words, his ears shifting forward.
“This means I’m yours for life, remember?” Kagome stated while showing the mark on her throat, though her tone of voice was almost cheerful, and exceedingly optimistic. “I bet this new spell of hers is just as temporary as the last one, or even if it won’t wear off by itself, then there has to be a way to undo it. Don’t give up on us so easily, all right?”
Inuyasha was floored, and despite himself, his tail started wagging. Kagome giggled behind her hand at the sight, but realizing that she wasn’t really laughing at him, he let it go as he rose to his feet; all four of them. He stood only to Kagome’s hips. His mass hadn’t changed as a result of the spell, making him a giant inu-youkai like what Sesshoumaru was capable of transforming into. He also didn’t possess the ability to fly, which he would were he suddenly a full-blooded inu-youkai. Instead, it was as if the human half of him had been magically transformed into a normal dog, leaving his youkai half alone, so that he still had his intelligence and powers, only now he was trapped in an unchanging canine body instead of an unchanging humanoid one. In a way, he was still a hanyou of sorts; he was still a half-demon. Whatever Kikyou had done to him, he just prayed that there really was a way to undo it. Kagome may say she still loved him, but there was only so far she would be willing to take that love while he was stuck in the body of a dog.
I guess I should have rutted her in the woods, after all… he mentally pouted as he turned while woofing over his shoulder at Kagome to climb onto his back, which she seemed to understand by his gesture as she obeyed him in that moment, straddling him. Oh kami… he mentally groaned at the feel of her heat pressing against his spine. Could things get any worse?
As for the miko, she’d caught the remorseful look he’d given her as he asked her to climb on, and she had a pretty good idea where his thoughts had wandered off to.
Our relationship isn’t about sex… Kagome told herself with conviction. I proved that by asking him to mark me without mating, and the love I feel for him in my heart hasn’t changed.
Still…
There’s got to be a way to change him back, but…what if there isn’t?
How far would she be willing to go to prove her love? Just because their relationship wasn’t based on sex didn’t mean she would truly be happy in a sexless relationship. But Kagome figured she was getting way too ahead of herself. There was a way to change him back. Wasn’t there?
Kikyou’s words from that night at the Inn suddenly took on a whole new meaning.
My heart shall remain loyal to him, no matter what.
Of that she was certain.
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The trip back to the others was silent, for obvious reasons, but not as uncomfortable as he had feared it would be. Not wanting to make the trip too bumpy for his mate, Inuyasha kept his pace at a smooth lope, allowing the inu plenty of time to contemplate recent developments. Just when he thought his life was turning around for the better, having friends who accepted him for what he was, having a mate who accepted him for what he was, what he was had to go and be changed against his will. Would they still accept him now? How could they? And how long before Kagome grew tired of waiting to find a cure? Was there a cure? What if he was stuck like that forever? The only thing that kept him thinking semi-positively in that moment was the presence of the girl currently riding on his back. It was kind of hard to convince himself that she could never possibly look at him the same way ever again, when she had just spent the last two hours tracking him down, only to tell him that she still loved him.
What kind of a mate was he? Had he truly been so willing to give Kagome up? No…not really. He hadn’t really been running away for good, Inuyasha knew, although he couldn’t really explain himself to Kagome in great detail at the moment. Initially, he had been chasing after Kikyou, after asking quick forgiveness for having allowed this disaster to happen in the first place. It was his fault, after all, for having allowed Kikyou to get the drop on them. He knew Shippou would translate for him, but apparently Kagome had misunderstood his actual meaning, not that he blamed her. He sure hadn’t been in a great hurry to return. After losing sight of Kikyou when the undead miko had taken higher to the sky, and still having no trace of a scent to follow, Inuyasha had continued to wander aimlessly for a while before finally plopping down, hoping to think of some kind of a solution. He would’ve eventually dragged his ass back to his friends, but Kagome had come for him before he’d gotten the chance, proving just how loyal she truly was. Of course, part of him had also been ashamed for her to see him in such a condition, which was the real reason why he had been preparing to dart off again before she’d threatened him with the o word, but he was glad that she had. He’d needed to hear what she’d had to say. While he still wasn’t happy about it, he was much more optimistic, now, that something could actually be done to rectify the situation. It might take a while, but he definitely had something worth waiting for.
Finally closing in on the area where they had left the others, Inuyasha came to a stop to allow Kagome to rise from his back. It would be getting dark soon, so they would need to find a place to setup camp. He could go scout ahead for that, but didn’t want to risk her thinking he was abandoning her again, so reluctantly, he walked with her the last few steps until they reached the others.
“Kagome!” Sango spoke up quickly, the slayer having become worried when Kirara returned alone.
“And Inuyasha, I see…” Miroku added, taking note of the obvious intelligence shining in the white dog’s yellow eyes.
Said white dog woofed in that moment, which the humans quickly realized hadn’t been directed towards them.
Shippou bound forward at the summons, and then proceeded to do something that none of the humans, or inu-hanyou, had been expecting. He transformed himself into a fox. The kit then proceeded to yip and bark at Inuyasha in the canine native tongue, which was much easier for him to form properly with a fox’s throat than a humanoid’s.
“You idiot! Why did you go running off like that?! There’s got to be a way to change you back! And even if there isn’t, Kagome’s you’re mate forever, no matter what!”
“Don’t you think I know that?!” Inuyasha growled back, hating the reminder as his ears lowered to his head, his tail hanging limply. He loathed the idea that he had trapped Kagome to him, if he were truly trapped as a dog for the rest of eternity. What kind of a future was that? It wasn’t a future…
“Look, tell the others I’m gonna go scout out a place to make camp. I’ll be back.” With that said, Inuyasha turned and bound off through the trees.
Kagome had been watching the whole exchange with a moderate amount of understanding, betting she could guess what had been said between the kitsune and inu even though she honestly hadn’t understood a word of it. As Inuyasha turned and trotted off, something told the miko not to panic, that he wasn’t just up and leaving. Shippou confirmed her beliefs when he popped back into his part-fox/part-boy form and said “He said he’s gonna go find a place to make camp. He’ll be back.”
True to his word, Inuyasha returned a few minutes later, and a low woof told the inu-tachi that he wanted them to follow him. Doing so, they were led to a small clearing that would function quite well as a camping spot for the night. They would reach Kaede’s by mid-day tomorrow, and then hopefully the elder miko would know what her undead sister had done, and even more importantly, how to undo it.
Dinner preparations were mildly awkward, as Kagome was unsure of how to go about serving Inuyasha his ramen, but he answered her unasked question when he proceeded to head over and snatch one of the cups of ramen right out of her hand. True, he couldn’t hold chopsticks in his current condition, but in their place he had a muzzle that was long and narrow enough to allow him to eat right out of the Styrofoam cup like a bowl, as he proceeded to do just that, slurping up his ramen with only slightly less gusto than on any normal night.
After dinner was over, as Miroku and Sango both settled into their respective sleeping rolls for the night, Kagome pulled out Inuyasha’s kimono from her backpack, along with some thread and a needle, and proceeded to start stitching it back together by firelight. Silently walking over to her position by the fire, Inuyasha plopped down on his haunches, tilting his head to gaze at her work with curiosity, before woofing at her quietly.
“I know…I know…the fire-rat fur will heal itself, but it’ll do that much faster if shown where it needs to reattach itself, like setting a broken bone so that it can knit properly.” she explained quietly so as not to disturb their friends, holding up her work to reveal that she wasn’t sewing his robes anywhere near as meticulously as would be required were the garments not self-restoring.
Inuyasha just stared at her with wide, unblinking eyes, at the realization that she could still understand his dog-form so fully. She had seemed to be able to read him so well when his mind had been reduced to nothing more than that of a dog, so maybe…maybe things wouldn’t be so bad, after all. That is, it wouldn’t be so bad in the mean time, until they found a way to reverse the spell. They would find a way to reverse the spell…
Leaning forward hesitantly, he offered Kagome a quick lick across the cheek. Turning her head in surprise, she beamed at him with her brightest smile as she whispered “I love you, too.” before leaning forward herself and kissing his nose. He would have blushed at the gesture, were dogs capable of blushing.
Putting her sewing away a few minutes later, Kagome murmured a quiet “Good night…” before moving herself over to her sleeping bag. Kirara and Shippou were already cuddled together on the other side of the fire, so having the available space, Kagome thought to offer Inuyasha the option of lying with her again. She didn’t want him to think she would be put out by the idea, if he were interested. Quite the opposite, in fact, Kagome wouldn’t mind cuddling up against a warm, furry dog for the night in the slightest. He was actually really cute, although she was doing her best to resist the urge to pet him, lest he fear she truly thought any less of him now. He was not an animal, no matter what his form, and Kagome understood that. Turning her head to glance in his direction in that moment, her new angle so close to the ground provided the miko with an excellent, albeit unexpected view of what she was sure he hadn’t meant for her to see, as he continued to sit on his haunches just a few feet away.
Oh crap! she panicked, turning her head away quickly. She had forgotten that Inuyasha was naked!
Said inu-hanyou, having caught the way Kagome turned towards him only to look away again much too quickly, didn’t take long to realize what had happened, though instead of being embarrassed from flashing the girl, he mentally chuckled at his mate’s own embarrassment. Had she already forgotten how she’d had her hand wrapped tightly around that same part of his anatomy just a few short days ago? As soon as Kaede was able to reverse the spell, he planned on whisking Kagome away so they could finish what they’d started. The urge to mate with her was getting more and more powerful by the day. In the mean time, however, it truly meant the world to him that she hadn’t immediately turned her back on him, willing to stick by him for however long it would take to change him back. Walking forward, he plopped himself down beside Kagome in that moment, leaning himself against her.
Smiling as she felt him join her, the miko rolled back over and wrapped her arm around Inuyasha’s back, holding him to her as though he were a giant teddy bear.
From the other side of the fire, Miroku and Sango both chose not to comment, as they silently grinned at the sight of Inuyasha’s tail wagging.
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I guess things could’ve been a lot worse… Inuyasha contemplated silently as he walked beside Kagome behind all the others during the last leg of their journey back to Kaede’s.
Things really could’ve been a lot worse, if Kikyou’s spell had also affected his mind, although he was pretty sure he knew why she had chosen to leave his mind intact while only warping his body. She had wanted both Kagome and him to suffer, and he wouldn’t have suffered if he’d been rendered too stupid to know any better, so this way, Kikyou was assured that they were both miserable, in their own unique ways.
Kaede will change me back, and then I’ll hunt that bitch down and-
Inuyasha was pulled from his thoughts when the woman beside him gasped, a hand flying to her chest. Immediately on high alert, his ears swiveled frantically atop his head, as Sango and Miroku both turned around to ask Kagome what had happened.
“I sense two jewel shards, coming fast!” she revealed, dread swelling up in her scent.
Ah, crap… Inuyasha groaned internally, sniffing the air only to confirm his mate’s words.
As if things hadn’t been touchy enough, it was in that moment that a whirlwind zipped upon them through the trees, coming to a stop and dissipating to reveal Kouga’s smug form.
“Kagome…how is my- What the hell happened to Dog-shit?!”
Inuyasha snarled while the ookami-youkai laughed openly at his expense.
“It’s a long story, but it’s temporary, so no need to worry yourself.” Kagome replied with a slightly more bitter tone of voice than anyone had ever heard her use towards the wolf before, not that the ookami noticed, his mirth still obvious as he gazed in Inuyasha’s direction with zero sympathy.
“You’ve really done it to yourself this time, haven’t you InuKuso? Come on, Kagome, you’ll be safer with me until he finds a way to change back. Can’t protect you with that powerful sword of his while he doesn’t have any hands.” he commented, gesturing to the sheathed katana Kagome currently carried among her arrows in the quiver across her back.
As Kouga took a step in Kagome’s directly, Inuyasha moved into a protective stance in front of the miko, barking and growling out a series of threats that were promptly ignored.
Smirking, Kouga met Kagome’s eyes and stated “He said you should go ahead and come with me. That he’s not fit to protect you like this.”
“That’s a lie!” Shippou yelled from his place on Miroku’s shoulder. “He said to leave Kagome the fuck alone!”
“Shippou!” Kagome scolded, turning her attention to the kitsune as she stated “You don’t need to quote him word for word, I don’t want you using that kind of language!”
“Sorry, Kagome…” the boy murmured.
“At least we have an honest translator.” Miroku chimed in, adding “Kouga, I find it exceedingly hard to believe that Inuyasha would so quickly and willingly release all rights to his mate.”
Inuyasha stopped growling and glared at Kouga smugly, while Kagome winced in preparation for the new level of hostility she was sure they were about to be faced with. Although, truth be told, Kouga really should have noticed the change in their scents on his own. It was only because he was so joyfully distracted by Inuyasha’s plight that he hadn’t been paying that much attention to anything else.
Immediately silenced by the houshi’s words, Kouga glared at his woman long and hard, breathing deeply through his nose. Then his eyes widened.
“No…it can’t be…”
“It’s true, Kouga. Inuyasha’s always been the one I’ve wanted. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt you, but I just think of you as a friend.”
Kouga nodded slowly, a sudden hardness in his eyes that made him look cold and calculating.
“You should have just told me you preferred fucking animals. I can transform, you know.”
Kagome recoiled as though she had been slapped, but she didn’t have long to feel shocked by Kouga’s words as he growled fiercely in that moment before his blue eyes shifted to demonic red, as fur overtook his entire body. Instead of tearing out of his clothing, his primitive wraps appeared to become a part of himself, just like Sesshoumaru’s pristine robes remained unharmed whenever he transformed, and the next thing everyone knew, a large black and brown wolf was charging at Inuyasha, teeth snapping. The white dog didn’t back down from the challenge, as he met Kouga’s slightly larger form head on, and the inu-tachi suddenly had a very violent, very dangerous dog fight on their hands.
Kagome didn’t dare use the subjugation command. She didn’t doubt that Kouga would move in for the kill while her mate was immobilized if she did. This was far different from any of their other fights, and not just in the sense that they were both currently in animal form. Before, Kagome had always believed that they would never seriously try to injure one another. This time, it was to the death.
Not if I can help it… the miko thought with determination, but what could she do?
“Sango!” she shouted suddenly, racing over to the slayer and whispering something in her ear.
Nodding, the taijiya reached into her robes and got herself into position. In the next moment, Shippou was holding his hands over his mouth and nose while the smoke cleared, two unconscious but otherwise unharmed canine youkai lying where they’d fallen thanks to her stink pellets. Well, “unharmed” was a relative term, once everyone took note of how much blood had been shed. Inuyasha’s wounds were especially visible, thanks to his silvery white fur, but Kouga was not without his own share of damage, if the tremendous about of blood around Inuyasha’s mouth was any indication.
Quickly moving into position to treat Inuyasha’s wounds, it was decided that Kouga would be moved off to the side, sealed with a sutra that would not injure him but would prevent him from moving, once he finally came-to. In the mean time, Kagome prodded through Inuyasha’s fur for a few minutes, until deciding that most of the bites were nothing more than small scrapes and tears that would heal just fine on their own. Kouga had taken a couple of good chunks out of him on his side, near his right shoulder, and so Kagome concentrated on those areas. Inuyasha came-to to the smell and sting of medicine, and groaning in a very dog-like fashion, he lifted his head slightly to observe what Kagome was doing.
“Shhh, don’t move around too much, there’s torn muscle here.” she told him gently as she applied a bandage, patting him on the head before she even realized what she was doing.
His ears lowered at the contact, and silently, he plopped his head back down to the ground.
Oops…but I probably would have done that anyway.
She’d patted Inuyasha on the head before, not that he really appreciated it all that much even in hanyou form. But what was done was done, so it would probably be best to just move on without dwelling on that one for too long. A groan from the other side of their makeshift camp offered the perfect distraction in that moment. Kagome felt more than heard her patient start growling, but she effectively shushed him as she whispered “He can’t move, we have him pinned with a sutra, and no, I have not treated his wounds, nor will I.”
Inuyasha immediately stopped growling, completely in awe at her words. She wouldn’t be treating that bastard’s wounds? For Kagome, something like that was completely unheard of. She must be very angry with Kouga.
Which worked out perfectly, since it just so happened that Kouga was very angry with Kagome.
“Damn it, Kagome, get this fucking thing off of me!” the ookami suddenly demanded, having managed to shift himself back into his humanoid form, because that change was accomplished through his magic, although he still couldn’t move physically thanks to the sutra on his back.
“Not until we’re ready to leave, and not until you promise to leave us alone.” the miko replied, her tone colder than anyone had ever heard her use before. This time, the ookami noticed.
“What’s gotten into you, Kagome? I mean, besides the mutt.”
Inuyasha began growling again.
Ignoring Inuyasha, and also ignoring the shocked and outraged expressions of her friends, Kagome sprung to her feet before stomping over in Kouga’s direction. As he lay sprawled out on his side in his humanoid form, his injuries were more easily noticeable, but Kagome was more than familiar with the workings of youkai by that point, and she knew that he would recover. She knew that Inuyasha would’ve recovered without treatment, too, but she liked treating Inuyasha’s wounds. She loved him, and she wanted to care for him.
“Let’s get a few things straight, Kouga.” Kagome began, making sure to stand far back enough so that his eyes could reach her face, since he couldn’t move his head. She also didn’t want to risk giving him any glances up her skirt.
“Inuyasha and I became mates before this happened to him, not that it’s any of your business one way or the other. Even stuck as a dog, Inuyasha is twice the man you could ever be, and even though we will change him back, supposing, just supposing there wasn’t a way to reverse this spell, he’s still my mate. His claim is valid, and he has every right to fight for me when somebody is too stupid to realize they should just leave me alone. I’m off limits, no matter what.”
Inuyasha immediately stopped growling at Kagome’s words, not that anyone noticed with how loudly Kouga was suddenly snarling, spouting off things such as “You were mine first!” and other such nonsense that nobody was honestly paying all that much attention to. They were just observing him making a fool of himself, waiting for him to calm down so that Kagome could undoubtedly tell him off again. Silently, Inuyasha ran over his mate’s words a few times…over and over…trying to find some other meaning than what he thought she’d meant. He couldn’t possibly have heard her right. No… Truly, all she’d said was that they were still mates, regardless of his appearance, and ultimately, that was the truth, since a mating bond couldn’t be undone. So she’d meant that she would remain forever loyal to him in the sense that she wouldn’t abandon him to take any other mate. Yes, that was what she’d meant.
Still, he found her level of love and sacrifice quite humbling. To give up having a lover, to give up having children…
Staggering to his feet, Inuyasha limped over to Kagome’s position, coming up beside her so that he brushed up against her hand with the top of his head, his silent way of letting her know that he forgave her for the little slipup of her petting him. Supposing, just supposing that he was going to be stuck like that for a while, he might as well try to embrace the notion. Subconsciously reaching the same conclusion, Kagome cupped her hand over Inuyasha’s head, scratching an ear for a moment as she continued to stare down in Kouga’s direction.
“We’re going to be heading on our way now, Kouga.” Kagome stated after the ookami-youkai finally grew tired of the sound of his own voice.
Stepping forward, Kouga thought Kagome was moving to remove his sutra, so it was understandable that his scent spiked with horror at the realization that she had moved to his shins.
“I guess I should take these while I’m at it, probably waited too long as it is...” she muttered more to herself as she popped out the jewel shards in his legs with virtually no effort. At her touch, the small amount of taint in the shards from being connected to a youkai immediately disappeared, allowing the purified shards to fall away from Kouga’s flesh as they basically rejected him.
Sango and Miroku both stared wide-eyed, though they knew better than to comment as the miko stepped away from Kouga’s prone form, putting his shards with their others in the little glass bottle she carried.
She then stepped back to once again stand beside Inuyasha, as she silently drew an arrow from her quiver before notching it loosely in her bow. Kouga’s eyes widened, the only part of his body besides his mouth that he could currently move.
“Do you promise to leave us alone?” she asked, her voice a steady deception of the tremors in her body.
Wordlessly, Kouga gulped, and he would’ve merely nodded his uneasy promise, but because the sutra on his back prevented even that minimal movement, he finally forced his vocal cords to function as he uttered a faint “Yes…”
“Okay, Miroku, remove the sutra.” she stated then, her arrow still aimed, though not yet pulled back to fire.
Quickly snapping to attention, the monk wordlessly complied with Kagome’s request, praying that the ookami-youkai didn’t attempt to call her bluff. Miroku knew that Kagome had no desire to shoot him, she was merely gambling that Kouga wouldn’t know that.
As soon as he could move, Kouga bolted to his feet, though he didn’t immediately make a run for the hills, as everyone had secretly been hoping.
“You won’t possibly change your mind?” he asked her dejectedly.
Swinging her head around to flip her hair out of the way, she bared her throat at him, or more accurately, her mating mark, as she said “Does it look like I could change my mind?”
Beside her, Inuyasha flinched, hoping Kagome hadn’t meant that the way it’d sounded. Nevertheless, Kouga finally seemed to get the hint, as he lowered his head in defeat before turning and running off without another word. With shaking hands, Kagome dropped her bow and arrow, collapsing to her knees as silent tears streamed down her face. Instantly forgetting his own problems, Inuyasha was licking away her tears, trying his best to tell her that everything would be all right. He was so proud of her for standing up to Kouga, especially since he knew it would’ve killed her inside to have to actually fire an arrow at him. A clearing throat brought the inu-hanyou back to himself as he glanced up to see Miroku’s comical grin, while Sango was far too obvious in her attempt to look elsewhere.
Sending a glare Miroku’s way, Inuyasha turned back to the kneeling miko before him and woofed quietly.
Coming up beside the pair, Shippou translated.
“He said ‘Don’t cry.’”
Laughing shakily, Kagome reached up with both hands to wipe at her red and puffy face for a moment, before silently thanking Inuyasha with her eyes as she rose to her feet. After collecting her fallen weapon, she turned to her friends and said “Well, come on. We’re almost there, and then hopefully Kaede will be able to shed some light on this subject.”
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“I see…” the elderly miko commented once everything had been explained to her fully. “I am not unfamiliar with this spell. However, I have never before seen it applied to one of demonic blood. It is dark magic, and typically used to transform humans into farm animals, such as a pig or a goat.”
Kagome sat with wide eyes, nodding eagerly as she took in everything the elderly miko explained. Who knew that such old wives tales of magic were actually true? That witches really could turn someone into a newt, to coin a phrase. Hopefully Inuyasha would ‘get better’.
Kaede continued to explain that the spell, as she understood it, never affected the mind, but merely the body, leaving its victims forever trapped in the form of whatever animal their tormentor had chosen. The ‘forever’ part earned a gasp from the younger miko before Kaede quickly explained that, under normal circumstances, the spell was simply never reversed. She then went on to assure them all that she was quite certain the spell could be reversed, although the bad news was that only Kikyou knew the key was.
“Key?” Miroku asked.
“As is with the workings of this particular magic, it must be bound to a key, that will unlock it, upon its time of creation. However, the nature of that key is at the sole discretion of the witch.” she explained.
“So basically, there is something that will undo this spell, because there has to be something that will undo this spell in order for it to have been created in the first place, but only Kikyou knows what that is?” Sango asked for clarification.
“Precisely.”
Ears lowering upon his head, Inuyasha whimpered, earning himself an ear scratch from Kagome that did nothing to raise his spirits.
“We’ll get through this,” she assured her mate. “Somehow.”