InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mating Season ❯ Breather ( Chapter 30 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: SplendentGoddess 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 04.12.2006 | Updated On: 07.26.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 13.2K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 04.12.2006 | Updated On: 07.26.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 13.2K | 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.
========================
Chapter 30 - Breather
The sun was fully set by the time they started back towards the village, the faintest glow of orange providing enough light to indicate which way west was, but not enough to see by. At least, not for three of the four humans currently trudging through the woods. The fourth human, along with the hanyou and two small youkai, could see just fine, and were constantly shouting things like “Look out!” or more simply “Rock!” as Miroku very nearly tripped over a rock the size of Shippo before the kit quickly screamed the warning. Everyone was cold, and tired, and dragging their feet as much as was possible while marching through snow, except for Kagome, whom Inuyasha insisted upon carrying. They hadn’t much thought about the weather while battling Naraku, but now, snuggling up by a nice warm fire was starting to sound ideal to everyone present.
Everyone’s run down and groggy behavior perked up as soon as they entered the village, which was still very much alive and booming with the prospects of commerce. One detail previously unrealized gradually found its way into everyone’s minds as they glanced around the lamp lit community. Naraku had used this village, at least in part, with one of his plots of evil, but the end of his use had not resulted in the loss of innocent lives. The village had been spared.
After a hot meal, everyone retired to their rooms for the night. Miroku, Sango, Kohaku and Shippo, along with Kirara, all shared the same room, allowing Inuyasha and Kagome one to themselves. As predicted, the Inn Keeper really hadn’t had a problem with that arrangement, since he was used to housing the occasional peaceful youkai for a night or two, who more often than not, had a human…companion. Why else would a youkai want to stay at the Inn of a human village? But he was an open-minded businessman, and turned no good soul away...provided they had enough coin on them, of course. As a precaution against any potential ill will that a youkai may attempt, he owned a lower level youkai guard dog, whose duty was to sniff out dark auras. Like Kirara, the inu had a small, cute form, which caused most humans to want to pet it. But if aggravated, it could transform into a large, menacing beast, capable of flight. Miroku found it comical when the dog barked at Inuyasha, but even more so when their hanyou companion offered a bark of his own in return. As it would turn out, they were really talking to one another.
“What did he say?” asked Kagome, once the two of them were settled in their room.
“What did who say?” he asked in return, distracted slightly while pealing off his suikan and kosode to gage the damage caused by Naraku.
“The guard dog.”
“Oh, him.” Sitting down upon the futon, Inuyasha placed his hands out behind him and leaned back slightly, allowing Kagome to start cleaning the wounds on his stomach. “Nothing really, that was just an acknowledgment and greeting bark. I guess it translates as ‘hello fellow dog’ or whatever.” he supplied.
Kagome got her first aid kit from her backpack, and started wiping away the dried blood with an antibacterial cloth. “I didn’t realize you could speak to dogs.” she said softly. When he raised an eyebrow in curiosity of her statement, she elaborated. “I mean, you were raised by your mother in a human village, then you were out on your own.” Applying a bandage, she asked “How did you learn?”
“Keh, it’s not like a ‘real’ language that I had to be taught or anything. It just comes natural.”
He tried to hide his blush, even though he knew she’d smell his embarrassment. He always complained about being treated like a dog, and now he’d gone and shown that he can speak with them. But Kagome didn’t seem disturbed or disgusted by that information, only curious. She loves me… he reminded himself, silently amazed, once again, by the incredible woman sitting before him. He was pulled from his thoughts as he unconsciously winced in pain as she continued to treat him. That tentacle had pierced him clean through, so she had to clean a wound on his back as well as his stomach, and that one hurt a lot more. While sitting behind him, she slowly started to trawl medicine into his wound with one hand, bringing her free hand up to apply a small dose of medicine to his injured ear, as well. She knew the wound on his ear was superficial and would heal just fine on its own, however, she also knew that rubbing his ear would at least partially distract him from his pain.
“Can you teach me?” she asked out of the blue.
“Nani?”
“Can you teach me?” she repeated, adding “The inu language?”
He debated over whether or not he should feel uncomfortable with the conversation at hand until he finally accepted the fact that his mate accepted him.
“I dunno, never thought about it.” he answered honestly. “Like I said, it’s not usually taught, it’s just part of our instinct.” Thinking about it for a second, he suddenly added, “But you’ve already show some inu instinct from time to time, whether you realize it or not.”
“I have?” she asked, surprised, “When?”
“I’ve heard you growl,” he chuckled, asking, “Remember when Kouga said how great you were, for a human?” He deliberately used a disgusted accent on the last word.
On cue, Kagome started growling again, before she even realized she was doing it.
“What did I say?”
“It’s not like a sentence with words, you just articulated that you were displeased. You can intensify the sound to include a threat to the one who displeased you to not do it again.”
“I wasn’t even thinking about it when I growled, it was like it just came out, as part of the emotion.” Thinking about it, she suddenly realized something, and added, “But I do remember suppressing my growl, now that you mention it, when I was talking with the girls back in my time. I wanted to growl, but I didn’t.”
“Yeah, they wouldn’t have understood, and would have just thought you were weird.” he chuckled, leaning his head into her tender ministrations upon his ear, that had continued despite the fact that the wound on his back had been thoroughly treated and bandaged by that point.
“I also recognized your begging whimper.” she said softly, the memory of their activities directly following the carnival entering her mind.
“Keh, I don’t beg, wench.”
She immediately stopped rubbing his ear, and within five seconds the beg whimper escaped his throat of its own accord.
Chuckling, she resumed her gentle massage, while again grumbling the sound she understood to mean compliance, realizing that she’d used the sound last time without conscious knowledge.
She chuckled again when she heard her mate grumble with words “Stupid wench thinks she’s sooo clever…” even as he once again leaned into her touch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Down the hall, there was a similar scene, though the conversation was different. Sango and Miroku had each received a few minor battle wounds, and Kagome had given them the medical supplies they’d need to treat their injuries before the friends had parted ways for the night. Miroku attempted to offer to Sango that he’d dress her wounds, but received two dark glances in return, Kohaku having no desire to allow the letch to feel up his sister, especially not in his presence! He had been made aware that the two were engaged, however, and after sizing Miroku up with his eyes for about five minutes, he smiled slyly and gave his approval. Kohaku was still plagued with the memories of everything he had done, but he at least seemed to have come to terms with the fact that he hadn’t truly been the one who did those things. He wondered briefly what happened to Kagura, afraid she’d been slain by Naraku as well, but he didn’t know how his sister and her friends would feel about trying to find and help her, considering she’d been their enemy. He let the subject remain untouched as he tended his sister’s wounds. Miroku, who also had a few minor scratches, was left in Shippo’s delicate care, not that either man was truly happy with that arrangement.
“It’s finally over…” the monk sighed after a moment, in an attempt to lighten the heavy mood of the small room.
“Yes, it is.” Sango agreed, a genuine smile upon her lips.
“Now you two can work on building your own hut!” Shippo chimed in happily, earning a sputter from Sango as she attempted to hide the reddening of her cheeks, a blush that darkened further when she gazed the twisted grin that Miroku was currently sporting.
“Why Sango,” he started, a smirk in his voice, “I do believe little Shippo has made an excellent point. We can’t stay with Kaede-sama forever.”
Gaining her composure, she smiled at her fiancé, and said “You know, you’re actually right, for once.”
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“Grrrrrr”
“No, it’s more from the back of the throat. More vibration, less vocal cords.”
“Grrrrrrrrr”
“Ther e ya go.”
“And that means…?”
“Stay away from my mate.”
“So…all those times you always growled at Kouga like that, you were actually staking your own claim on me?” she asked in confusion. He nodded.
“But, if you wanted me, why didn’t you ever say so?”
“Do you really have to ask?” he asked. “I convinced myself that you didn’t really want me. I figured nobody could.” Reaching up and brushing a stray hair from her face, he continued, “Kikyou wanted me human, remember?” She nodded with a sad smile. “Sure, I could smell your attraction to me, but I didn’t believe your feelings of love were so true. After all, I knew you didn’t know that if we mated, it’d mean forever, and I just assumed you wouldn’t want to be stuck with me.”
“And I assumed,” she remarked, “That every time you looked at me with that expression of longing and love in your eyes, that you were seeing through me to what I reminded you of Kikyou.”
“We’re perfect for each other,” he joked, “We’re both as dense as boulders.”
Kagome’s response was a genuine laugh, as she shifted her sitting position upon the futon closer to where Inuyasha was sitting, as she then snaked out her right arm, wrapping it around her mate in a half-hug, as she leaned herself against the left side of his body.
“So all this time, Kouga had known that you had your own claim on me, and ignored it.” she commented as that particular fact really sunk in.
“Well, it didn’t help matters when you always sat me in front of him. It implied that you were rejecting my claim.”
“I wasn’t aware of your claim.”
“I knew that, but he didn’t.”
“I’m sorry…” she whispered, truly apologetic. “Whenever you decide you want me to remove the rosary, just let me know, and I’ll gladly remove it.”
Turning to face her, he hooked a gentle claw under her chin, and said “You haven’t even used the thing since we mated, except to save my life. Why would I want you to remove it?”
“I’m just afraid that one day I’ll say the word without thinking and “s” you on accident.” she confessed. “I’ve done it before.”
“Yeah well…” He gently brushed his lips against her own, and assured her…“If that happens, it ain’t no big deal. Not like it hurts or nothing.”
“Inuyasha…”
He didn‘t like the tone in her voice.
“The last time I did it, we were already bonded, remember?” His ears drooped. “I know it hurts you to get slammed into the ground like that.”
“Okay, fine…” he conceded begrudgingly, “…it hurts, a little. But it ain’t like it’d actually injure me.”
“I suppose you’re right on that one.”
“Keh, course I am, wench.”
Suddenly, a low growl could again be heard coming from Kagome’s throat.
“All right, all right…I’ll stop calling you ‘wench.’”
Kagome’s chuckle brought out a smile on Inuyasha’s own lips, as he snaked his left arm out in return, and leaning himself backward upon the futon, brought his mate down with him as he lied down on the thin bedding. He was too injured for anything beyond cuddling, not that he would have complained, but Dr.’s Orders, Kagome said. With his metabolism, his wounds should be healed by the time they made it back to Kaede’s village, where she promised she’d make it up to him. Truth be told, she wasn’t really in the mood at the moment anyway, not after everything that had happened that day, which, all things considered, was perfectly understandable. Though she’d managed to forgive herself her deception, after she’d come to terms with the fact that Inuyasha had, in truth, been tricked as well, she was still physically run down from the amount of spiritual energy she had been required to exude in expelling Naraku. She was recovering faster than normal due to her youkai enhanced metabolism, but she still needed to take it easy for a while.
“So you really think the mangy wolf is dead?” he asked softly as they laid together, his left arm still wrapped around her, as she leaned her head on his chest.
“We won’t really know for sure unless we try to track him down, but if Naraku got his jewel shards…”
“Yeah…” Though he had no love for the wolf, he had no genuine hate for him, either.
“At least Kohaku was spared.” she whispered softly, grateful beyond words to whom she supposed she could think of as her brother-in-law.
“I still can’t believe that bastard was ‘testing’ us.” Inuyasha said softly, still trying to wrap his mind around the idea.
“Well, it makes sense in a way…”
“How do you figure?”
“Because,” she began, “He’s the elder brother.”
“I see where you’re going, but you can just forget it.” he denied. “There ain’t no way that that bastard would decide to do anything ‘brotherly’.”
Suddenly, Inuyasha’s voice dropped in pitch, and Kagome could tell he was slightly crestfallen. “He abandoned me when I was little, after my mother’s death.” he confessed.
Kagome turned to face her mate, being sure to give him her full attention, as moments where he truly opened up about himself were still rarer than she would like them to be. “After my mother died,” he continued to explain, “I sought him out, hoping for a place to belong. I couldn’t have been older than Shippo. In fact, I was younger.”
“And he rejected you?” she asked knowingly.
Inuyasha nodded.
“He said I wasn’t worth dirtying his hands with either killing or keeping alive, and he simply left me to starve. When we bumped into each other again, after I was grown, he expressed mild surprise that I had managed to survive all those years, and said something about being forced to correct the error he’d made back when he’d allowed me to live.” He heard his mate’s intake of breath, and knew she’d attempted to suppress as gasp at his revelation. “He’d presumed that no hanyou could survive past childhood, and said that he couldn’t allow my taint of the Inu no Taisho bloodline to continue.” he stated matter-of-factly.
“So instead of being proud of you for proving to him how strong you actually are, by surviving all those years on your own, he tried to kill you?”
Inuyasha nodded again. “Neither of us had a sword back then, since Tenseiga isn’t for battle, so it was my claws against his.”
“I don’t think he was trying to kill you.” Kagome said suddenly.
Surprised, Inuyasha fixed his eyes on her, and damn near snapped “How do you figure??”
“Because…” she said softly, hoping he would not take offense, “You’re still alive.”
Inuyasha thought about that for a moment, able to avoid flying off the handle at his implied weakness due to the influence of their bond, until he reached the conclusion she’d attempted to point out. Back then, he was just a pup, and not as strong as he was now.
“I see you’re point.” he finally admitted, “He’s had several opportunities to kill me,” he conceded, “and he never has.”
“Maybe deep down some part of him actually cares for you, as his father’s son, and only living relative.” she provided.
“Or maybe,” he half-joked, “He’s just waiting until I get strong enough to be a real challenge, seeing no honor in slaying me while I’m weak.”
“If he were waiting for the day you surpassed him in power, then he missed his calling.” she said proudly, “Because that day came and went the day you mastered Backlash Wave.”
Inuyasha stared across at his mate with a newfound feeling of love and pride, as he leaned forward and kissed her gently.
“Maybe he has only been testing me, after all” he whispered, remembering…“He knows I defeated Ryuukatsusei, something our father couldn't even do. If I would have died in that battle, then that would have only proved me weak, but I didn’t.”
“Not only did you not die, you overcame your youkai blood, reverting yourself back to normal when you transformed. You lightened Tetsusaiga, which is stronger than it used to be, containing your fang. The simple fact that your fang made Tetsusaiga so heavy to begin with just goes to prove how strong you are.”
“Keh, I surpassed my old man in power without even trying.”
“And that just goes to prove how strong you are, too.” she repeated
“No…” he whispered seductively, “That just goes to prove how strong you are. You are my strength.” Leaning forward, he kissed her again, and this time, it was more than just a chaste kiss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Down the hall, a young fox youkai tried to suppress his smile. He was happy that his new parents were both okay; that had been a scary battle. He had to agree with Kagome, though. He didn’t think that Sesshoumaru truly wanted his only brother dead. How could he? Not that he was trying to listen to their conversation, but the walls were paper thin, literally, and even though the humans couldn’t hear anything, his little kitsune ears could pick up just about every word. He also smiled at the fact that she was interested in learning the instinctive tongue. Inuyasha had been right when he’d said that she’d shown some instinct already, but it was still foreign to her, and she may do something automatically that she wouldn’t even be aware that she did. He should be able to help teach her the various barks and growls, though, considering the kitsune and inu languages were virtually identical. After everything Kagome’d done for him, Shippo was delighted to think that he might actually have a way to repay her, at least in part.
Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.
========================
Chapter 30 - Breather
The sun was fully set by the time they started back towards the village, the faintest glow of orange providing enough light to indicate which way west was, but not enough to see by. At least, not for three of the four humans currently trudging through the woods. The fourth human, along with the hanyou and two small youkai, could see just fine, and were constantly shouting things like “Look out!” or more simply “Rock!” as Miroku very nearly tripped over a rock the size of Shippo before the kit quickly screamed the warning. Everyone was cold, and tired, and dragging their feet as much as was possible while marching through snow, except for Kagome, whom Inuyasha insisted upon carrying. They hadn’t much thought about the weather while battling Naraku, but now, snuggling up by a nice warm fire was starting to sound ideal to everyone present.
Everyone’s run down and groggy behavior perked up as soon as they entered the village, which was still very much alive and booming with the prospects of commerce. One detail previously unrealized gradually found its way into everyone’s minds as they glanced around the lamp lit community. Naraku had used this village, at least in part, with one of his plots of evil, but the end of his use had not resulted in the loss of innocent lives. The village had been spared.
After a hot meal, everyone retired to their rooms for the night. Miroku, Sango, Kohaku and Shippo, along with Kirara, all shared the same room, allowing Inuyasha and Kagome one to themselves. As predicted, the Inn Keeper really hadn’t had a problem with that arrangement, since he was used to housing the occasional peaceful youkai for a night or two, who more often than not, had a human…companion. Why else would a youkai want to stay at the Inn of a human village? But he was an open-minded businessman, and turned no good soul away...provided they had enough coin on them, of course. As a precaution against any potential ill will that a youkai may attempt, he owned a lower level youkai guard dog, whose duty was to sniff out dark auras. Like Kirara, the inu had a small, cute form, which caused most humans to want to pet it. But if aggravated, it could transform into a large, menacing beast, capable of flight. Miroku found it comical when the dog barked at Inuyasha, but even more so when their hanyou companion offered a bark of his own in return. As it would turn out, they were really talking to one another.
“What did he say?” asked Kagome, once the two of them were settled in their room.
“What did who say?” he asked in return, distracted slightly while pealing off his suikan and kosode to gage the damage caused by Naraku.
“The guard dog.”
“Oh, him.” Sitting down upon the futon, Inuyasha placed his hands out behind him and leaned back slightly, allowing Kagome to start cleaning the wounds on his stomach. “Nothing really, that was just an acknowledgment and greeting bark. I guess it translates as ‘hello fellow dog’ or whatever.” he supplied.
Kagome got her first aid kit from her backpack, and started wiping away the dried blood with an antibacterial cloth. “I didn’t realize you could speak to dogs.” she said softly. When he raised an eyebrow in curiosity of her statement, she elaborated. “I mean, you were raised by your mother in a human village, then you were out on your own.” Applying a bandage, she asked “How did you learn?”
“Keh, it’s not like a ‘real’ language that I had to be taught or anything. It just comes natural.”
He tried to hide his blush, even though he knew she’d smell his embarrassment. He always complained about being treated like a dog, and now he’d gone and shown that he can speak with them. But Kagome didn’t seem disturbed or disgusted by that information, only curious. She loves me… he reminded himself, silently amazed, once again, by the incredible woman sitting before him. He was pulled from his thoughts as he unconsciously winced in pain as she continued to treat him. That tentacle had pierced him clean through, so she had to clean a wound on his back as well as his stomach, and that one hurt a lot more. While sitting behind him, she slowly started to trawl medicine into his wound with one hand, bringing her free hand up to apply a small dose of medicine to his injured ear, as well. She knew the wound on his ear was superficial and would heal just fine on its own, however, she also knew that rubbing his ear would at least partially distract him from his pain.
“Can you teach me?” she asked out of the blue.
“Nani?”
“Can you teach me?” she repeated, adding “The inu language?”
He debated over whether or not he should feel uncomfortable with the conversation at hand until he finally accepted the fact that his mate accepted him.
“I dunno, never thought about it.” he answered honestly. “Like I said, it’s not usually taught, it’s just part of our instinct.” Thinking about it for a second, he suddenly added, “But you’ve already show some inu instinct from time to time, whether you realize it or not.”
“I have?” she asked, surprised, “When?”
“I’ve heard you growl,” he chuckled, asking, “Remember when Kouga said how great you were, for a human?” He deliberately used a disgusted accent on the last word.
On cue, Kagome started growling again, before she even realized she was doing it.
“What did I say?”
“It’s not like a sentence with words, you just articulated that you were displeased. You can intensify the sound to include a threat to the one who displeased you to not do it again.”
“I wasn’t even thinking about it when I growled, it was like it just came out, as part of the emotion.” Thinking about it, she suddenly realized something, and added, “But I do remember suppressing my growl, now that you mention it, when I was talking with the girls back in my time. I wanted to growl, but I didn’t.”
“Yeah, they wouldn’t have understood, and would have just thought you were weird.” he chuckled, leaning his head into her tender ministrations upon his ear, that had continued despite the fact that the wound on his back had been thoroughly treated and bandaged by that point.
“I also recognized your begging whimper.” she said softly, the memory of their activities directly following the carnival entering her mind.
“Keh, I don’t beg, wench.”
She immediately stopped rubbing his ear, and within five seconds the beg whimper escaped his throat of its own accord.
Chuckling, she resumed her gentle massage, while again grumbling the sound she understood to mean compliance, realizing that she’d used the sound last time without conscious knowledge.
She chuckled again when she heard her mate grumble with words “Stupid wench thinks she’s sooo clever…” even as he once again leaned into her touch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Down the hall, there was a similar scene, though the conversation was different. Sango and Miroku had each received a few minor battle wounds, and Kagome had given them the medical supplies they’d need to treat their injuries before the friends had parted ways for the night. Miroku attempted to offer to Sango that he’d dress her wounds, but received two dark glances in return, Kohaku having no desire to allow the letch to feel up his sister, especially not in his presence! He had been made aware that the two were engaged, however, and after sizing Miroku up with his eyes for about five minutes, he smiled slyly and gave his approval. Kohaku was still plagued with the memories of everything he had done, but he at least seemed to have come to terms with the fact that he hadn’t truly been the one who did those things. He wondered briefly what happened to Kagura, afraid she’d been slain by Naraku as well, but he didn’t know how his sister and her friends would feel about trying to find and help her, considering she’d been their enemy. He let the subject remain untouched as he tended his sister’s wounds. Miroku, who also had a few minor scratches, was left in Shippo’s delicate care, not that either man was truly happy with that arrangement.
“It’s finally over…” the monk sighed after a moment, in an attempt to lighten the heavy mood of the small room.
“Yes, it is.” Sango agreed, a genuine smile upon her lips.
“Now you two can work on building your own hut!” Shippo chimed in happily, earning a sputter from Sango as she attempted to hide the reddening of her cheeks, a blush that darkened further when she gazed the twisted grin that Miroku was currently sporting.
“Why Sango,” he started, a smirk in his voice, “I do believe little Shippo has made an excellent point. We can’t stay with Kaede-sama forever.”
Gaining her composure, she smiled at her fiancé, and said “You know, you’re actually right, for once.”
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“Grrrrrr”
“No, it’s more from the back of the throat. More vibration, less vocal cords.”
“Grrrrrrrrr”
“Ther e ya go.”
“And that means…?”
“Stay away from my mate.”
“So…all those times you always growled at Kouga like that, you were actually staking your own claim on me?” she asked in confusion. He nodded.
“But, if you wanted me, why didn’t you ever say so?”
“Do you really have to ask?” he asked. “I convinced myself that you didn’t really want me. I figured nobody could.” Reaching up and brushing a stray hair from her face, he continued, “Kikyou wanted me human, remember?” She nodded with a sad smile. “Sure, I could smell your attraction to me, but I didn’t believe your feelings of love were so true. After all, I knew you didn’t know that if we mated, it’d mean forever, and I just assumed you wouldn’t want to be stuck with me.”
“And I assumed,” she remarked, “That every time you looked at me with that expression of longing and love in your eyes, that you were seeing through me to what I reminded you of Kikyou.”
“We’re perfect for each other,” he joked, “We’re both as dense as boulders.”
Kagome’s response was a genuine laugh, as she shifted her sitting position upon the futon closer to where Inuyasha was sitting, as she then snaked out her right arm, wrapping it around her mate in a half-hug, as she leaned herself against the left side of his body.
“So all this time, Kouga had known that you had your own claim on me, and ignored it.” she commented as that particular fact really sunk in.
“Well, it didn’t help matters when you always sat me in front of him. It implied that you were rejecting my claim.”
“I wasn’t aware of your claim.”
“I knew that, but he didn’t.”
“I’m sorry…” she whispered, truly apologetic. “Whenever you decide you want me to remove the rosary, just let me know, and I’ll gladly remove it.”
Turning to face her, he hooked a gentle claw under her chin, and said “You haven’t even used the thing since we mated, except to save my life. Why would I want you to remove it?”
“I’m just afraid that one day I’ll say the word without thinking and “s” you on accident.” she confessed. “I’ve done it before.”
“Yeah well…” He gently brushed his lips against her own, and assured her…“If that happens, it ain’t no big deal. Not like it hurts or nothing.”
“Inuyasha…”
He didn‘t like the tone in her voice.
“The last time I did it, we were already bonded, remember?” His ears drooped. “I know it hurts you to get slammed into the ground like that.”
“Okay, fine…” he conceded begrudgingly, “…it hurts, a little. But it ain’t like it’d actually injure me.”
“I suppose you’re right on that one.”
“Keh, course I am, wench.”
Suddenly, a low growl could again be heard coming from Kagome’s throat.
“All right, all right…I’ll stop calling you ‘wench.’”
Kagome’s chuckle brought out a smile on Inuyasha’s own lips, as he snaked his left arm out in return, and leaning himself backward upon the futon, brought his mate down with him as he lied down on the thin bedding. He was too injured for anything beyond cuddling, not that he would have complained, but Dr.’s Orders, Kagome said. With his metabolism, his wounds should be healed by the time they made it back to Kaede’s village, where she promised she’d make it up to him. Truth be told, she wasn’t really in the mood at the moment anyway, not after everything that had happened that day, which, all things considered, was perfectly understandable. Though she’d managed to forgive herself her deception, after she’d come to terms with the fact that Inuyasha had, in truth, been tricked as well, she was still physically run down from the amount of spiritual energy she had been required to exude in expelling Naraku. She was recovering faster than normal due to her youkai enhanced metabolism, but she still needed to take it easy for a while.
“So you really think the mangy wolf is dead?” he asked softly as they laid together, his left arm still wrapped around her, as she leaned her head on his chest.
“We won’t really know for sure unless we try to track him down, but if Naraku got his jewel shards…”
“Yeah…” Though he had no love for the wolf, he had no genuine hate for him, either.
“At least Kohaku was spared.” she whispered softly, grateful beyond words to whom she supposed she could think of as her brother-in-law.
“I still can’t believe that bastard was ‘testing’ us.” Inuyasha said softly, still trying to wrap his mind around the idea.
“Well, it makes sense in a way…”
“How do you figure?”
“Because,” she began, “He’s the elder brother.”
“I see where you’re going, but you can just forget it.” he denied. “There ain’t no way that that bastard would decide to do anything ‘brotherly’.”
Suddenly, Inuyasha’s voice dropped in pitch, and Kagome could tell he was slightly crestfallen. “He abandoned me when I was little, after my mother’s death.” he confessed.
Kagome turned to face her mate, being sure to give him her full attention, as moments where he truly opened up about himself were still rarer than she would like them to be. “After my mother died,” he continued to explain, “I sought him out, hoping for a place to belong. I couldn’t have been older than Shippo. In fact, I was younger.”
“And he rejected you?” she asked knowingly.
Inuyasha nodded.
“He said I wasn’t worth dirtying his hands with either killing or keeping alive, and he simply left me to starve. When we bumped into each other again, after I was grown, he expressed mild surprise that I had managed to survive all those years, and said something about being forced to correct the error he’d made back when he’d allowed me to live.” He heard his mate’s intake of breath, and knew she’d attempted to suppress as gasp at his revelation. “He’d presumed that no hanyou could survive past childhood, and said that he couldn’t allow my taint of the Inu no Taisho bloodline to continue.” he stated matter-of-factly.
“So instead of being proud of you for proving to him how strong you actually are, by surviving all those years on your own, he tried to kill you?”
Inuyasha nodded again. “Neither of us had a sword back then, since Tenseiga isn’t for battle, so it was my claws against his.”
“I don’t think he was trying to kill you.” Kagome said suddenly.
Surprised, Inuyasha fixed his eyes on her, and damn near snapped “How do you figure??”
“Because…” she said softly, hoping he would not take offense, “You’re still alive.”
Inuyasha thought about that for a moment, able to avoid flying off the handle at his implied weakness due to the influence of their bond, until he reached the conclusion she’d attempted to point out. Back then, he was just a pup, and not as strong as he was now.
“I see you’re point.” he finally admitted, “He’s had several opportunities to kill me,” he conceded, “and he never has.”
“Maybe deep down some part of him actually cares for you, as his father’s son, and only living relative.” she provided.
“Or maybe,” he half-joked, “He’s just waiting until I get strong enough to be a real challenge, seeing no honor in slaying me while I’m weak.”
“If he were waiting for the day you surpassed him in power, then he missed his calling.” she said proudly, “Because that day came and went the day you mastered Backlash Wave.”
Inuyasha stared across at his mate with a newfound feeling of love and pride, as he leaned forward and kissed her gently.
“Maybe he has only been testing me, after all” he whispered, remembering…“He knows I defeated Ryuukatsusei, something our father couldn't even do. If I would have died in that battle, then that would have only proved me weak, but I didn’t.”
“Not only did you not die, you overcame your youkai blood, reverting yourself back to normal when you transformed. You lightened Tetsusaiga, which is stronger than it used to be, containing your fang. The simple fact that your fang made Tetsusaiga so heavy to begin with just goes to prove how strong you are.”
“Keh, I surpassed my old man in power without even trying.”
“And that just goes to prove how strong you are, too.” she repeated
“No…” he whispered seductively, “That just goes to prove how strong you are. You are my strength.” Leaning forward, he kissed her again, and this time, it was more than just a chaste kiss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Down the hall, a young fox youkai tried to suppress his smile. He was happy that his new parents were both okay; that had been a scary battle. He had to agree with Kagome, though. He didn’t think that Sesshoumaru truly wanted his only brother dead. How could he? Not that he was trying to listen to their conversation, but the walls were paper thin, literally, and even though the humans couldn’t hear anything, his little kitsune ears could pick up just about every word. He also smiled at the fact that she was interested in learning the instinctive tongue. Inuyasha had been right when he’d said that she’d shown some instinct already, but it was still foreign to her, and she may do something automatically that she wouldn’t even be aware that she did. He should be able to help teach her the various barks and growls, though, considering the kitsune and inu languages were virtually identical. After everything Kagome’d done for him, Shippo was delighted to think that he might actually have a way to repay her, at least in part.