Friday, December 24, 2004

   InuYasha 34
Miroku watched Inuyasha silently from where he sat across the small campfire, a thoughtful expression on his face. He seriously doubted the hanyou was aware of how very telling his behavior towards the unconscious girl was, but he wasn't going to be the one to bring it to his attention. With Kagome still completely unresponsive to their attempts to wake her, Inuyasha was more likely to take his head off than to admit to the affectionate display.

Inuyasha was seated on the ground for once, leaning back against the trunk of a massive tree with his legs folded around Kagome to cradle her close. He'd positioned her in his lap so he could press her head against his chest, one hand absently stroking over her cheek or her lips as he glared alternately into the fire and away. His other hand was wrapped around her bent knees; his hand was splayed wide on her back and rubbing gently. Every so often he would dip his head and press his lips to her forehead or her temple before he went back to glaring at the cheery blaze.

"This wasn't like the last time," Inuyasha finally spoke, still refusing to make eye-contact with the rest of them. "She acted... different," his hands tightened at the admission.

"How?" Miroku inquired in the same quiet tone, his eyes on Kagome's pale face in contrast to the blood red of Inuyasha's kimono.

"Before her eyes were like they were when she attacked those two youkai," he answered, brushing her bangs out of her face. "This time... they just changed color, and she wasn't acting like she did when... when she fought last time."

"What did happen the last time, Inuyasha?" Sango leaned forward, her jaw set in determination. He'd barely told them anything about what had happened to Kagome when Kikyou had almost killed her, and even though she understood his reluctance to speak about it, they needed to know. It would take all of them to figure out how to break this spell, and the sooner he admitted that and shared all the information he had, the easier it would be.

Inuyasha sighed heavily, stroking her hair and looking off into the woods before he swore and responded, "Like I said, she was talking as though there was someone speaking with her, but I couldn't hear it. It had to be that second voice she told us about, but she seemed... detached from it. She was arguing with it, but this time, she was... excited, and she didn't seem to be hearing anything strange. It was only her."

Miroku frowned, folding his arms in the sleeves of his robes as he pondered what that could mean, "Kagome-sama said that she was told to stay near you by the first voice she heard. That she would be safe as long as she was within your aura, ne?"

"So? She never fucking left it and this still happened," he growled out, his hand fisting in her hair as he dropped his chin to the top of her head. "It didn't make any difference with her being with me," the muscle at his jaw jumped with the strain he was putting on it.

"But she did not lose her control to the extent you described when she was not in range," the monk pointed out. "It's likely your presence that protected her from that, Inuyasha."

"Keh."

Sango's brows drew together in concern at the flat tone of voice, sharing a look with Miroku before she turned her attention back to the hanyou, "Inuyasha, none of us know how to fully protect Kagome-chan from this spell. You can't blame yourself for-"

"It's my responsibility to keep her from getting hurt, Sango," Inuyasha cut her off with a grunt of irritation. He didn't need to hear that bullshit from them when they knew as well as he did that he had failed her again. He had more important issues to address before he was willing to hear their accusations, "What did you sense, bouzu? How many were trying to get inside her head this time?"

Miroku frowned in disapproval at the redirection, well aware Inuyasha was intending to wallow in guilt over this for a long time to come. The scowl on the hanyou's face warned him that he wasn't in the mood to argue it now, "Two."

"So two things were trying to control-"

"No, Inuyasha, there were only two magics around her at all," Miroku corrected, his hand tightening on his staff absently as he recalled the odd crackle of energy that had wrapped itself around Kagome before she attacked Kouga. "One of them was her own, but it was mixed in so completely with the second magic that it was difficult to sense anything else."

Inuyasha's head finally lifted to focus on the monk, his mouth set into a sharp frown as his eyes gleamed dangerously, "Two? Mixed together?"

"It happened after you took a pretty hard hit," Sango added as Inuyasha's hand moved from Kagome's hair down to her neck and began to lightly stroke along the curve. "She wasn't watching the fight, but when you were hit, she grabbed her chest. The aura around her changed when it happened, but it only became...ah, intense when she looked at you."

"That's when the magics flared up together," Miroku finished with a stoic nod. "The closer she got to you two fighting, the stronger the magics got. But they were not pushing against each other as they did the last time I sensed it. This time there were...interwoven."

"You had to notice she was moving like you," Sango shook her head, frowning when the hanyou looked startled. "You didn't notice?"

"Inuyasha, Kagome-sama is not a physical fighter," the monk moved back to sit against a tree in the same manner as Inuyasha, settling his staff against his shoulder easily before he closed his eyes. "However, when she became angry, even you and Kouga were having difficulties defending against her."

"We didn't want to hurt her," he grumbled, self-consciously lifting her higher against his chest so he could tuck her face into the crook of his neck.

"Of course not," Miroku leaning his head back, cracking one eye open to catch the faintly embarrassed expression on the hanyou's face before he let his lips curl in a small smile. "She'll be fine, Inuyasha. You should get some sleep."

"If you'd like, we can watch over Kagome-chan," Sango offered quietly, lifting one hand in his direction in an absent gesture.

Inuyasha made a rude sound in his throat at the suggestion, sliding his arm down to catch Kagome behind the knees as he shot upwards into the high branches of the tree he'd been leaning on. Sango blinked in surprise at the sudden motion, looking up to where she could just barely make out Inuyasha's silhouette as he settled himself and Kagome for the night.

"Or not," she muttered, shooting him a dry glare before moving to bed down for the night.

She sighed and leaned down to scoop up the sleeping Shippo before settling herself against Kirara's curled form to get some sleep. With Inuyasha so attuned to everything around them, it was always easier for them to relax at night and with Kagome still unconscious, she doubted the hanyou would sleep at all.

"Don't even think about, houshi-sama," she muttered the moment she heard the faint rustle of clothing to her left. There was a regretful sigh, followed by the sound of him returning to his original position and then only the regular sounds of the night around them.

Inuyasha watched Sango and Miroku fall asleep dispassionately, his hand resting lightly over Kagome's heart to feel it beating with his own. The spell had saved Kagome's life once, in a way, making her heart beat in time to his when it should have stopped from her injuries. Following his heart's directions, she'd said, the voice telling her that his soul wouldn't release it, release her, even though she had healed enough to survive without the guidance.

Damn right he wouldn't release her, he thought with a scowl, his claws flexing at the thought and lightly piercing the fabric of her shirt. Kagome belonged to him, and there was nothing some future monk or strange voice could do or say to take what was his.

**

Kagome's eyes opened as though she'd never been unconscious at all, blinking rapidly with the rush of disorientation not entirely due to the fact that all she could see was white. She remembered kissing Inuyasha, or rather, Inuyasha kissing her as though branding her even more completely than the tattoo. Then Kouga had appeared and she felt... she felt so angry at his presence that something in her mind had been urging her to attack him, force him as far away from her as possible.

When he'd hurt Inuyasha, she'd felt that nagging anger increase into full blown rage that he'd dared hurt...hurt someone who belonged to her? 'God, I really am starting to sound like Inuyasha,' Kagome shifted, closing her eyes for a moment to recall what she had done after that.

It had felt so good, the strength flowing through her even as her mind filled with images and directions, everything she needed to attack the wolf youkai. The sensation had been so incredible that she had avoided all Inuyasha's attempts to catch hold of her, not wanting to lose that warmth and power. She'd accidentally hit him once, feeling a jolt go through her at the contact and then the bastard had subdued her, she frowned in irritation. That had made her want to keep her hold on the energy even more.

But then Kouga had grabbed her, sending pain rushing through her until she felt the familiar strength of Inuyasha's arms coming around her. He called her sneaky, but he was the one tricking her into getting caught! How was she going to prove she was strong enough to mate-?

She gasped in shock at her own thoughts and arched back, only to have a familiar hand catch her by the back of the neck and keep her from moving any farther.

Inuyasha looked down at her face, one brow arching in speculation at the light blush on her cheeks and the confused look in her wide eyes, "What is it?"

Kagome's eyes slid down to his mouth before they dropped to his chin in embarrassment and stammered out, "Ah... How long was I asleep?"

The tension in his body slowly flowed out of him and his lips pulled back in an arrogant smirk, his hand lifting to brush lightly over her cheek, "All afternoon."

His smile grew at the shiver that went through her, turning into deep throated laughter when she squirmed and let out a soft shriek of surprise, "Dammit, Inuyasha, why am I in a tree?"

"Shh, you'll wake the others," Inuyasha pressed his finger to her lips to silence her before he slid both hands down to her shoulders. "Do you really want them to see us up here?" he taunted quietly.

Kagome bit the inside of her cheek to keep from yelling at him, her eyes down on the others much farther below them than she'd expected. She let out a squeak and instinctively pressed closer to him, her arms going around his neck even as she realized he'd set her legs on either side of his hips again.

"You're safe with me, Kagome," he leaned forward, rubbing his cheek along hers and letting his hands slide down her back. Careful to keep his claws away from her skin, his hands moved to her hips and flexed as he pulled her closer. "You know I wouldn't let you fall," Inuyasha smiled softly when she let her grip soften, turning her face towards his neck.

"I would have preferred knowing I was this high off the ground," she muttered, unaware of the effect her lips moving against his throat was having on him.

Inuyasha's eyes slid closed, "Where did you think I would be?"

"On the ground? In the sleeping bag?" Kagome grumbled, her hand lifting to absently toy with a gleaming strand of his hair. "Like we usually do?"

He was quiet for a moment, his eyes opening as he turned to look down at her, "Like we usually do?"

Kagome turned her face to press it against his shoulder, wishing she'd kept her mouth shut instead of letting that slide out so casually. When had it become so natural for her to have Inuyasha sleeping next to her that she would say something like that in front of him? Hell, he was bad enough about her saying they were engaged and now she admitted she thought of them together in the sleeping bag was their "usual" way.

Inuyasha pinched her hip, grinning when she jumped in surprise, "C'mon, koibito, I want to hear you say that again."

Her brows lowered in annoyance and she tried to push away from him, but Inuyasha simply moved his arms up to hold her pinned to his chest. Growling in an almost perfect imitation of his own, she lifted herself enough to bite his neck in retaliation before muttering, "You can be a real jerk, Inuyasha, you know that?"

When she got no response, Kagome began to get a little nervous, more so when she felt the tattoo give a particularly strong lurch and heat curl outward from it in a steady stream. Slowly, half worried he wouldn't let her, she leaned back to look up at his face, "Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha's arms slid down limply, his chest rising and falling in a precise, even motion while his head was lowered to allow his bangs to hide his eyes. His nostrils flared when Kagome leaned closer, her hand lifting tentatively to his cheek and trying to urge his face up. His heart was thudding heavily in his chest, eyes closed and fangs bared as he fought with the instinct that had gripped him the moment he felt Kagome's teeth against his skin.

He knew the moment she felt the growl rising in his chest, her hand stilling against his face and her breath hitching in her throat. Inuyasha lifted his head, his eyes glowing as they locked onto hers and held her gaze on his as surely as if he held her face in his hands.

"I...I'm sorry, Inuyasha, I didn't think-!" Kagome somehow managed to stammer out with her throat gone dry from the sheer heat in his gaze, but his face gave away nothing. Her words choked off when she felt him shift, on hand lifting to clench over the throbbing tattoo while the other moved to fist in the hair at her nape.

She wasn't exactly sure what she had expected. However, Inuyasha's mouth fastening over hers as his hands ground her up against him hadn't been one of the possibilities going through her head.

The growl vibrated through her from head to toe as the hand at her nape twisted her head so he could position her for an even deeper kiss, nipping lightly at her lips before sweeping his tongue deep into her mouth. Kagome went stiff for all of two seconds before that encouraging rumble had her actively moving against him, her own hands sinking into his hair to hold him to her.

Inuyasha felt the muscles in her thighs tighten as she shifted against him, squeezing against his hips as she rocked forward to kiss him back with the same heated desperation spiraling through him. Before it had always seemed unattainable, holding Kagome like this and losing himself in the heat of desire he'd felt for her for what seemed like forever. He'd looked, and he'd lusted, but there had always been something holding him back. Some fear that she would refuse him and run back to her time, never to return.

One spell.

One fucking spell and here he was, Kagome crushed against him so tightly he wondered if they would be permanently fused together. They were both burning hot enough for that, and he was maintaining his hold on rationality by the barest of threads. If she made that noise in the back of her throat one more time, though, he wasn't going to be held responsible for his actions.

Kagome wasn't even aware when his hand moved to the small of her back and then farther to cup the curve of her backside, her thoughts having scattered long ago. All she was aware of at that moment was the strength in Inuyasha's arms, the heat radiating off his body, and the intense longing humming through her with every stroke of his tongue across hers. Her hands moved down over his chest, flexing against the muscles of his chest when she heard the growl drop an octave lower. He released his hold on her hair, dropping his hand down to her waist and without a hint of the hesitation he'd shown previously, slid his palm up her side until he reached the underside of her breast.

Kagome sucked in a sharp breath when Inuyasha's hand eased under her bra to press his hand against bare flesh, kneading gently as he let out a low moan and urged her closer again. His mouth slid away from hers to trace a path down her throat to the juncture of her neck and shoulder, his teeth nipping almost enough to break the skin. She let out a soft cry and his ears twitched to catch the sound as he smiled and used his hands to lean her away just enough for his mouth to move down to her breast.

Kagome's mouth fell open even as her arms curled around his head to hold him close, fingers lightly brushing his ears as stars dancing in the blackness behind her eyes and she felt herself melt into him. She was absolutely certain she would have slid right off his lap and out of the tree had he not wrapped an arm around her hips to hold her still.

Inuyasha was growling again, his heart racing and his breath in pants from all the sensations arrowing through him at her response to his touch. He was elated, feeling sweat glide down between his shoulder blades at the heat moving through him with the nearly blinding wave of desire. She was finally accepting this, and in reaction to that realization, he was moving to curl his legs beneath them so he could take her into the privacy of the woods around them.

"Kagome?" the hesitant voice from far below somehow cut through the blind haze of emotions, snapping them apart so quickly Inuyasha cracked the back of his head sharply against the tree and Kagome nearly tumbled from the branch.

They sat together, Kagome's eyes huge on his as she sucked air into her burning lungs, her face flaming at the thought of not just what they had been doing, but getting caught like this, "...Shippo-chan...."

Inuyasha pressed his forehead to her with a low groan of frustration and the untimely interruption. He could feel her heart pounding against his, her shirt and bra askew, and her panting breath against his lips as he snarled out, "That does it. That fucking brat is dead."


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Thursday, December 16, 2004

   InuYasha 33
In response, Kagome's head turned slightly so she could cast Inuyasha a sideways glance, and Inuyasha swore in concerned anger. Her eyes weren't the same as the other times she'd lost control, but the gleaming irises had unmistakably turned scarlet. That had to mean she was borderline, wavering between that possessed state and her normal frame of mind.

"You're hurt," she growled out quietly, her lashes lowering as she stood and scowled first at him and then at Kouga when the wolf grunted in discomfort and lifted his upper body off the ground, trying to shake off the punch. "I can feel it," her hand lifted to lightly brushed over her pounding heart.

Inuyasha shook his head, holding out a hand to her and hoping his voice sounded almost normal as he tried to calm her, "I'll be just fine, Kagome. Come here."

She turned her back on him, sliding away from his outstretched hand with a suspicious glare, "No."

"Fuck," Inuyasha's brows lowered dangerously at her motion, his anger rising at the thought she might be sliding back into that possessed state.

Was the second voice back? The one that wanted her to kill him, that was trying to steal her away and cause her pain. The one that told her not to let him touch her because...because the first voice said it was his soul keeping the other magic out.

He blinked in surprise, that was it! All he had to do was catch hold of her and the other magic would be forced out of her. But then, she'd never been out of his range of spirit, so how was it getting in? It had better not have found some other way to enter her mind.

"Kagome, whatever you hear in your head, ignore it. You have to come to me," Inuyasha gritted his teeth and demanded, taking a step towards her even as she slid back away from him another step.

Kagome's gaze moved to Kouga, not even glancing the hanyou's way as she responded to him, "Not yet, Inuyasha. You have no idea how angry I am right now, and I don't intend to let it go."

Kouga was rubbing his face, trying to connect that it was Kagome who'd just dropped him and broken his nose. Awestruck, he looked at her and then over to Inuyasha's tense expression. Kagome's entire aura had altered, and her eyes...she almost looked- and felt, like a youkai. His eyes narrowed and he glared suspiciously at the hanyou, "What the hell did you do to her, inukkoro?"

"You fucking stay out of this, wolf," Inuyasha snapped at him, sinking into a crouch in preparation to grab hold of Kagome before she could slide completely into that uncontrolled state. He wouldn't let that happen to her again, not when he knew he could protect her.

"If you've done something to Kagome, I'll-hrk!?" Kouga cut off when Kagome shot forward, bringing her fist up into his solar plexus and immediately punching the air out of his lungs.

"Stay right there, Inuyasha!" Kagome held up a hand, her tone of voice stopping him in place when he would have launched himself in between them. "Don't come near me," her eyes sparked before she turned her attention back to Kouga.

She felt more than heard the whispering this time, voices overlapping in her head indistinctly and urging her to run away from all of them. She shook off the quiet sound, much more focused on the heat humming through her. The sensation she had been feeling after Inuyasha's kiss had melted so easily into anger, the feel beating in at her head from all sides. Her head ached trying to block it out, but the moment she gave in and let it sweep through her, a wash of power pushed the ache aside and filled her with an odd excitement.

Whatever this was, it felt too good to give up without enjoying it a little.

Whispers or not, she needed to keep Inuyasha from touching her for just a bit longer.

Images swam through her head, almost directions, she thought with a frown. 'Hell, who needs Inuyasha teaching me if I can do this?' her lips spread in a slow grin, flexing her fingers and closing her eyes to let the instincts pour into her.

Kouga's eyes went wide when Kagome lashed out again, ducking out of the way just in time and reflexively sweeping her legs out from under her. He flipped onto his feet even as she rose into slight crouch, her hands flexed as though she had claws as well.

It was one of the worst reactions he could have had.

He barely had a chance to refocus on her, when Inuyasha was on him again, raking his claws along Kouga's shoulder when he failed to notice in time to dodge.

Kouga snarled, turning his back on Kagome to face Inuyasha, the one he perceived as the more dangerous threat. He immediately regretted the action when he felt her elbow ram against the small of his back and send him staggering forward into Inuyasha's fist.

On his back again with his head spinning, Kouga leapt up and back to keep both Inuyasha and Kagome in front of him. Stunned, in pain, and confused beyond imagining, he looked back and forth between them again and again, "What the fuck have you done to Kagome, inukkoro?!"

Miroku put a hand to his head, desperately trying to process what he was seeing. If Kouga tried to dodge Kagome, Inuyasha would attack and vice versa. They might just kill him if they failed to find a way to calm Kagome, "If this wasn't so serious, it'd be quite entertaining."

Shippo was grinning broadly, cheering Kagome on when she kicked the wolf in the stomach and leapt away from Inuyasha's reaching grasp, "I'm entertained!"

"Inuyasha knows how to snap her out of this, doesn't he?" Sango ignored the kitsune to inquire of no one in particular. It was disturbing to watch Kagome like this, the way she stood, moved, everything.... It was reminiscent to either Inuyasha or Kouga, or even a bizarre combination of the two. Almost as if...

"Absorbing energy... Kagome-chan said the voice told her she was absorbing energy around her, but she was safe with Inuyasha because she was balancing herself against him," Sango murmured, her eyes widening in understanding. "The way she fights when she loses control-" she began only to have Miroku interrupt when he picked up on her line of reasoning.

"She stops balancing and starts absorbing? Or perhaps the balance for his anger is too much for a human to handle," Miroku wondered aloud. "When she absorbs from a youkai does she starts mimicking their energy if it overwhelms her own? That would explain why she fights like they do, or that she acts so...different."

"But what would decide if she balanced or absorbed?" Sango set her jaw when Kagome darted forward and slammed her shoulder into the wolf's stomach in the same moment Inuyasha took a swipe with his claws that grazed his cheek.

"Too bad that stupid wolf attacked her," Shippo sighed, shaking his head as he watched Kagome and Inuyasha unconsciously moving to compliment the other and make it impossible for Kouga to escape or even successfully defend himself. "He should know by now that pisses Inuyasha off so badly that he can barely think straight."

Miroku and Sango gaped down at the kit in amazement before Sango bent and scooped him up, hugging him close to her chest, "Shippo-chan, you're a genius!"

"I am?" Shippo blinked in surprise, but as he was not one to turn down compliments or affection, the surprise changed quickly to an arrogant grin. "I mean, of course I am!"

Miroku took a step forward and called out, "Inuyasha! You must calm yourself!"

"Stay the fuck out of this, bouzu!" Inuyasha snarled back, dodging under a wild swing from the wolf, but accidentally catching Kagome's elbow between his shoulder blades and crashing to the ground. She hissed and hopped away from him when he tried to grab her leg, but he slammed his fist against the ground and yelled up at her, "Dammit, Kagome, stay!"

Kagome let out an outraged curse when she dropped to the ground, "Sit!"

When Inuyasha crashed to the ground as well, Kouga shot back several feet, glaring in angry frustration at the two humans watching from what they considered a safe distance. Panting and wiping the back of his hand over his bruised, bloody face he practically roared out, "Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on here?!"

Miroku shook his head, yelling at Inuyasha again, "YOU'RE what's setting her off, Inuyasha! You and Kouga. Remember? She's absorbing the energy around her?"

Inuyasha looked up, his expression startled and filled with self-disgust, "Getting angry.... She said it talked about what happened when she got angry."

"I'm fucking pissed now!" Kagome hissed at him, her fists flexing in her lap as she tried to get herself free of the spell.

"And you two aren't helping her any with this nonsense!" Miroku pointed his staff at the startled youkai males when they started growling at each other again. "Kagome-sama is human. How do you think she's handling YOUR combined emotion? Youkai emotions!"

"Oh hell," Inuyasha grunted, lifting himself and taking long, deep breaths in an effort to forcefully cool his anger. He was right, youkai emotions would be far too strong for a human to handle without getting overwhelmed and there were two of them for her to leech of if she starting absorbing again.

From the way Kagome was watching them both as the spell wore off, flipping herself to her feet and vibrating with anger, he'd say she was definitely pulling off their emotions. Why else was it so easy to calm himself when he knew the should still be just a breath away from ripping Kouga into little pieces?

What Miroku said made more sense than anything else they'd come up with, and after what that first voice said combined with what the second voice tried to prevent her from doing, it had to be right. If he could catch hold of her before her control slipped any further, he could calm the youkai rage in her and get her back to normal. But she wasn't letting any of them close. The strange thing was that she still seemed to be almost in her proper frame of mind.

Did she not want to balance out this time?

"Oi, wolf, calm the fuck down before you set Kagome off worse than she is already!" Inuyasha barked at Kouga as he righted himself, his mind racing to think up a way to distract her enough to grab her.

"I'm right here," Kagome growled at him in annoyance, her hands clenching and unclenching as the anger in her rippled over her mind. "Nothing's wrong with my ears, Inuyasha," the ripple turned into an all out enticement and unable to resist that pulse rushing through her blood, she was up and attacking Kouga yet again when her mobility returned.

Kouga flipped away from her, his brows furrowed in helpless confusion as he tried to keep out of her range. He didn't want to hurt her, and that idiot hanyou and human said something about her absorbing emotions. He'd only heard of a few female youkai who were capable of such a thing, and that was only when they were picking mates... Was Kagome in heat then to be doing it herself?

Kouga frowned and slid around behind her, eyes narrowed as he ducked under her fist and tried to inhale her scent. No, not quite in heat, so why was she being so violent? It was giving him a headache trying to puzzle out, and he darted away when energy crackled in the air around her and made his hair stand on end.

Through a stroke of dumb luck he found himself landing beside Inuyasha, facing the girl across from them as she panted softly, skin gleaming with perspiration while she turned in his newest direction. He tried to feel guilty for admiring the wild appearance, but hell, who wouldn't? Now if he could just get her to stop attacking HIM, so he could enjoy it.

"Fuck, inukkoro, HOW did you pull this off?" Kouga muttered sourly at the turn his admiring had taken. "It's like she's a completely different person!"

"You don't know the half of it," Inuyasha muttered, his eyes narrowing sharply as he figured out the best way to get a hold of her and calm her down.

The plan that came to mind had his lip curling in distaste, but try as he might, there just didn't seem to be any other ideas forthcoming. He couldn't risk her hurting herself or trying to run when the owner of that other voice could be anywhere, just waiting for something like this. No, the best way would be if she was distracted and didn't realize he had hold of her until she was already there.

He clenched his fists, silently praying he wouldn't regret this as he ground out, "Wolf, are you still fast enough to get behind her?"

Kouga gave him a sour, insulted look, "Kagome is a human, asshole, of course I'm fast enough! I just did that, didn't I?"

Inuyasha grunted and nodded a single time, "How long do you think you could hold her still?"

"As long as fucking I want, why?" the wolf youkai turned defensive at the insinuation, his chest already puffing up to brag about his prowess.

"Then I need you to get behind her," Inuyasha hissed low in his throat to prevent Kagome from hearing them. "Pin her arms at her sides so I can get to her," his lip curled back father in an instinctive threat and even deeper disgust at what he was suggesting Kouga attempt. "But if you hurt her, expect to get your arms ripped off," the hint of red was back in his eyes as he caught and held the youkai's surprised look.

If Kouga thought it was an odd plan, to his credit, he didn't say anything, just shrugged, nodded, and shot across the grove, clamping his arms around her bosom and dragging her up against him. Kagome let out a shriek of alarm, her eyes going wide as her spine arched and she thrashed in his hold, ramming her forehead into his chin as her eyes glazed.

Pain arched through her when the wolf made contact with bare skin and desperate to escape the unwanted sensation she did her best to throw off the person causing it. Rearing up and doing her best to wrench herself free of the man holding her still.

Kouga stumbled back and flashed Inuyasha a supremely irritated gaze, shouting as he tightened his hold. Something was wrong, he thought grimly when a shiver went down his spine followed by a flash of weariness. He felt...drained, and the worse it got, the more Kagome was able to push against his arms, "Now what?! Hurry up, asshole, this is... fucking harder than it looks!"

Before he'd finished speaking, Inuyasha was in front of them, ripping Kagome from the wolf's hold and tucking her up against him. Kouga gaped when Inuyasha clamped a hand over the tattoo, holding the girl pressed firmly into him despite her struggling until a severe shudder went through her from head to toe. The weird youkai-like aura began to fade away when Kagome slumped into Inuyasha, and it was obvious that had the hanyou not been holding her so closely she would have crumpled to the ground.

Inuyasha slid down to his knees right where he stood, dropping his chin onto her head as he lifted her into his lap and used one arm to hold her there while he stroked her hair lightly with the other, "Shh....Kagome, calm down. We've done this before, remember? Just focus on me instead of whatever you were feeling."

Kagome pressed her face against his throat, eyes closed as a shudder went through her, but this time it was a warmth that was taking away the god-awful pain. Her mind was fuzzy again, the whispers muffled so that they were little more than a hint of sound at the back of her consciousness, still too indistinct to understand as they faded away under the loud throb in her ears.

'Oh God, I was fighting with Kouga?' her eyes snapped open and she clenched her fists as her thoughts finally began to clear. 'And enjoying it?'

Inuyasha was murmuring to her, mostly nonsense, like he had the other night, determined to get a handle on his own anger and in turn, her own. He barely noticed Kouga glaring down at them, his expression frustrated and bemused as Kagome shook and Inuyasha whispered encouragement softly in her ear.

"That...that was strange...." Kagome flinched, her hip throbbing painfully as bit by bit, the soft warmth dulled the edge of that seething anger, smoothing it out into a more serene sensation and bringing a wave of exhaustion. "Inuyasha?"

"I'm right here," he soothed when she shivered again and tried to pull herself closer, her arms sliding around his neck with almost child-like vulnerability.

Kouga took a step back, his eyes narrowed as he watched tears form at the corner of Kagome's eyes and slip silently down her cheeks, Inuyasha muttering to her even as he rubbed his thumb over her cheek to brush them away. From what he could hear of the nearly silent grumbling, it almost sounded like the hanyou was lecturing her.

Casually, Kouga lifted his hand to wipe the blood off his face, eyes gleaming as they roamed first Kagome's shaking body and then Inuyasha's as the hanyou rocked her gently back and forth. This was just bizarre... What could the mutt have done to her that would make her fight like a youkai one second and then shake like a baby the next? Were they traveling to fix her? Would it be better for her to leave her be until they got her back to herself? Or at least under control?

He swore, his head aching again. Well, she wasn't mated, he could smell that, so it couldn't hurt to let the hanyou get her back to normal, right? He could always come back... Nodding at his internal decision, he turned on his heel and stalked to the edge of the woods before he paused. He couldn't let that mutt think he was giving in, "Inukkoro...."

Inuyasha looked up as Kagome slid into unconsciousness, his eyes hard as they regarded the cause of her most recent distress, "What the fuck do you want now?"

"I'll be back for Kagome soon," Kouga glanced over his shoulder to promise. "Take care of her until I do. Get her back to normal for me."

Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her more securely, biting down the surge of instinctive anger at the threat to his promised mate, "If you ever lay a hand on her again, asshole, I'll cut off your damn legs. She's branded with my name not yours."

The wolf flashed an arrogant smile, "That can always change."

"You're lucky I don't fucking shred you right now," he growled back, eyes gleaming brightly with renewing anger. "If it weren't for Kagome's condition I would have done it already."

Kouga snorted, "Ha! A slow weakling like you? You can fucking try, bastard."

Inuyasha was still scowling, cradling Kagome to him possessively when the wolf vanished in a whirlwind of dust.

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Thursday, December 9, 2004

   InuYasha 32
Kagome felt the thrum of the Shikon shards first, stopping her in her tracks in the small clearing when the feeling hit her awareness. The abrupt sense cutting her rather blood-thirsty thoughts concerning one priest and one hanyou short and turning her in the direction she felt the tingling aura. She frowned, concentrating as she felt it come closer and separate into two different pulses of power.

Two shards.

Fast.

"Oh hell," she whispered, her head snapping around just as Inuyasha froze, his ears and then his face turning in the direction she had been staring at a moment ago.

Inuyasha was in front of her so fast he seemed to blur, positioning himself defensively in between her and the approaching youkai. In reflex, Kagome jumped in surprise, but the vicious growl coming from the hanyou's throat had even her backing away instinctively. She'd barely taken a single step when his hand snaked out and caught her wrist, bringing her close even as he flashed her a commanding look.

"Don't," Inuyasha's eyes were nearly glowing as he looked first at her and then off the right where the scent originated.

Kagome self-consciously reached down, covering her hip with her palm when the tattoo warmed and pulsed strongly, "But, Inuyasha, it's only-"

"Kagome!" Kouga came skidding to a halt around behind Inuyasha in a cloud of kicked-up dirt and snatched both her hands in his own.

"Kouga-kun," she blinked in surprise when the wolf yanked her to one side, back-kicking the hanyou hard enough to send him crashing off the path and into the woods. "What a...a surprise!"

She winced when she saw Inuyasha pick himself up off the ground, shaking his head and turning his enraged scowl at the wolf. His expression flickered with surprise for a fraction of a second before he was snarling, his eyes on Kouga holding her hands. With how he'd been acting lately when even Shippo touched her, she'd be lucky if Inuyasha didn't try to rip out Kouga's spine with his teeth.

"Oi! Get your fucking hands off her!!" Inuyasha shot forward, but with the shards, Kouga was faster, looping his arm around Kagome's waist and leaping out of the way with an arrogant grin.

When Kagome caught the look on Inuyasha's face she grabbed Kouga's arm and shook it, "Kouga-kun, put me down."

"Why?" the grin turned warm and delighted when his gaze slid down to her face.

At the redirection of his focus, Kagome was wrenched from the wolf's grip and all but flattened to Inuyasha's chest. One arm wrapped around her torso and holding her close while the Tetsusaiga was held protectively in front of her, warning the wolf to stay back, "She said to fucking put her down, you bastard! That means keep your filthy hands off her."

Kouga recovered from his momentary surprise at the speed the hanyou had used to pull Kagome away from him, his brows lowering to darken his expression, "She's my woman, inukkoro. You're the one who should fucking back off."

Shippo jumped to the relative safety of Sango's shoulder, pulling a small handful of candy from his vest and settling in to watch the fight, "Oooh, this is gonna be good!"

Inuyasha's lips pulled back in a nasty smile, "She's mine."

Kouga looked slightly taken aback at not just his expression, but at the words, "Hn? Wha-what the hell did you do to her that you'd say that so openly?!"

"Inuyasha, don't you dare!" Kagome hissed at him clamping her hand down over her hip when she felt his hold loosen and his hand lower. Was that his answer to everything? He'd gotten away with this once with her friends, there was no way she wanted to be embarrassed like that in front of Kouga.

Inuyasha stilled, looking down at her with surprise and more than a little hurt coloring his expression, "Kagome..."

She wanted to hide it from Kouga. Even more than she'd wanted to hide it from the idiot human boy who'd acted so familiar with her. She'd yelled to her whole damn 'school' thing in her time that he was hers, what was the difference? Didn't she want this weakling to know she belonged to him? To see his name on her? They were promised to be mated, dammit, SHE said so!

Kouga took full advantage of the distraction, slamming his foot into the hanyou's face to send him flying backwards and catching Kagome by the waist to hoist her up over his shoulder. He waited until the hanyou was up on his haunches before he gave him a cold glare and ground out, "I don't think it's safe to let you protect my woman anymore, inukkoro. So I'll just take her home now. Don't come after her unless you want to die."

"If you don't put her down and get the hell out of here right now, asshole, I'll fucking rip you apart with my bare hands!" Inuyasha's eyes blazed as he sheathed the Tetsusaiga and shot forward, claws tensed.

Rather than setting Kagome down to put her out of the attack as Inuyasha had expected, Kouga just tightened his grip and flipped out of the way, his own expression enraged, "Hup! C'mon then, you worthless mutt, I'm gonna enjoy punishing you for trying to take my woman!"

Kagome was getting damn tired of being thrown over shoulders.

And more than that, the two of them were seriously pissing her off.

Her head hurt enough without having to try and think of new ways to break up these two fighting and she was going to put a stop to it. Now.

"Inuyasha, sit!"

Kouga was immediately grinning from where he stood and Inuyasha swearing murderously for all of two seconds before Kagome twisted on the wolf's shoulder and slammed her knee into his chin as hard as she could. She somehow managed to slide out of his hold and off his shoulder before he stumbled back and sat down, blinking and shaking his head to clear the dizziness her blow had caused.

Kagome's hands were fists on her hips as she glared between the two of them and waited for their attention to completely center on her before she barked out, "Dammit, what do I have to do to get you two to knock it the fuck OFF!"

Kouga was gaping up at her, his sore jaw forgotten at what was totally at odds with the speech and behavior he was used to. Not that he minded, he thought, his smile returning even wider than before as he looked her over appraisingly. She was very enticing like that.... her eyes blazing, and she'd even managed to stagger him.

"And I thought you had guts before," Kouga was back on his feet and in front of her with her hands in his before she could suck in the breath to yell at them again. "This is fucking great! I love you even more like this."

Kagome didn't even get a chance to form a response in her scattered thoughts when Inuyasha's fist connected with the wolf's face. His hand dropped only enough to snake around her shoulders and slam her back to his chest. Ignoring her shriek of protest, he grabbed her shirt and yanked it up even as he twisted her so her hip faced the other youkai.

"Here! Take a long look! Can a worthless bastard like you fucking read or do I have to tell you what this means?!" Inuyasha snarled out, taking some satisfaction in the way the wolf's eyes widened in surprise when the lowered to the red mark and filled with recognition.

Kouga stalked back up to them, punching Inuyasha in the face yet again, making Kagome freeze when she felt his fist brush so close it grazed her hair. With the hanyou back on the ground, Kouga grabbed her hips and turned her himself so he could look down at the crimson lines more closely, "Oi....Kagome? How did inukkoro get his name on you?"

"I-"

"No matter," Kouga shrugged and flexed his claws against her hip, lifting his hand so that his claws almost touched it. "We can just cut it off of you and then-"

That was as far as he got when Inuyasha's hand wrapped around his throat and lifted him off the ground. If Kagome thought he'd been growling before, that was nothing compared to the sounds coming from the hanyou now. His eyes had bled red, glowing violently as he bared his fangs and slowly squeezed the skin beneath his hand, "What the FUCK did you just say?!"

Kouga reacted instinctively, bringing both legs up in an attempt to kick them into his chest and gain his release from the choking hold, "I said we can cut your fucking name off MY woman!"

Inuyasha caught Kouga's leg, digging his claws deep into the wolf's thigh even as he turned and flung him into the trees with all his strength. Kouga slammed hard through at least two trees before they briefly lost sight of him, but his bellowing curses echoed easily back to them to show he was still close.

Inuyasha would have gone after him immediately.

At that moment he wanted nothing more than to tear the wolf's head off for even thinking of hurting Kagome on purpose, let alone daring to say it out loud. For wanting to cut his name, HIS proof, off her hip and saying it so casually to her. For ever putting his hands on her at all.

Kagome caught his arm, "Inuyasha, wait! He doesn't-"

His thoughts immediately redirected, a clawed hand fisted in her shirt over her heart, yanking her forward so fast she stumbled and had to catch herself against his chest. Inuyasha's fastened his mouth to hers, bruising, branding, and almost violent all at once in a blatant demand for her response.

Inuyasha was blind and deaf to everything around him, so focused on gaining answers from Kagome that he probably wouldn't have noticed if someone tried to run him through. But he had to know... What if she pushed him away? She had always been ridiculously kind to Kouga, never letting Inuyasha kill him and put an end to the violent competition once and for all. Like now. She didn't want him to go after the wolf even after everything he'd said. Did she want to let him cut her? Just to get his name off her?

Kagome felt the desperation in the devouring kiss, and her fingers curled in his haori as she tried frantically to think what he could possibly be desperate for. It was next to impossible. Just like it always was when Inuyasha was kissing her... But with the last complete thought that managed to make itself known, she wondered if the hanyou actually wanted reassurance. Could he be so unsure?

She slid her hand up to his cheek, turning her head and opening her mouth a little wider. Apparently that was the right response, as Inuyasha's hand tightened before moving around to the small of her back and press her into him while the other sank deep into her hair. The kiss was no less intense or consuming, but she dimly registered that the desperate edge was gone, replaced by a sense of relief and...elation?

Sango couldn't really remember a time she had been this shocked. She stood blinking rapidly as though trying to clear the image in front of her from her sight while Miroku watched beside her, no less surprised but covering it with much more aplomb and keeping a hand over Shippo's eyes.

"Hou-houshi-sama... do you think they...they might have-?" Sango was having difficulty even forming the question, her mind trying to deny it even as her eyes told her it certainly seemed true.

"It certainly... looks that way," Miroku nodded.

"What's going on?!" Shippo squirmed in the priest's hold. "Dammit, let me see!"

Inuyasha rumbled low in his chest, the tension in him easing at the honest emotions he could feel in her embrace. Kagome was soft and accepting, moving against him naturally as though she realized she was right where she belonged. She couldn't possibly kiss him like this if she didn't mean it, and that meant she didn't want Kouga.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, inukkoro?!" Kouga's outraged snarl snapped Inuyasha's attention back to the situation, but this time his attitude was much more confident, even arrogant.

He opened his gleaming eyes to watch the wolf, but purposefully tightened his hands, well aware that Kagome was too distracted to notice Kouga's reappearance. He smiled against her lips before ending the kiss, pressing her into him again and sliding his arms around her tightly, "I told you, she's fucking mine."

Kagome took several deep breaths, desperately trying to clear her head when his lips left hers, but Inuyasha's hand stroking lazily up and down her spine beneath her shirt was keeping her from getting herself back under control. She felt like she was on fire, her knees weak and shaking as she slumped in Inuyasha's hold, trusting him to keep her from falling flat on her face.

Kouga's eyes narrowed dangerously, nostrils flaring at the arousal in her scent, "I'm going to tear off your fucking hands for touching her, you worthless bastard!"

Inuyasha's eyes were hard and deadly even as his smile turned smug, "Funny, I was just about to say that."

Kouga snarled and shot forward, Inuyasha carefully setting Kagome aside as he leapt to meet the attack.

Ignoring the clashing youkai, Sango made her way over to where Kagome had more or less dropped to the ground, staring blankly ahead and barely supporting herself on her arms. Reaching down, she set her hand on the girl's shoulder, shaking lightly, "Kagome-chan, are you okay?"

Kagome turned to look up at her, her eyes still glassy as she lifted her hand to touch her swollen lips, "I... that was... I think so."

Somehow that just hadn't been like the other times he'd kissed her. This one had left her head reeling and that heat still streaking through her veins, making her heart pound in her ears. She could feel the tattoo pulsing in time with her heart, spreading a sort of longing through her at the almost harsh, demanding feel of his lips against hers. Before he'd been careful, almost as though he was afraid he'd hurt her, but this time he hadn't held back a thing.

It had been more than a little overwhelming, rough enough to occasionally border on pain, and... and unbelievably exciting. She was frustrated, still trying to tamp down the urge to run in between the fighting youkai and demand to know just how the hell he could kiss her like that one second and try to kill Kouga the next.

Miroku held out a hand to help her up, giving her a friendly smile, "Here, let me help."

Numbly, she set her hand in his and let them pull her to her feet, her eyes drawn to where Inuyasha was currently slamming Kouga face first into the ground, "I should stop them."

"I think she's had a shock," Sango shook her head, murmuring to Miroku when she saw the glassy look hadn't left the girl's eyes. Taking her hand, Sango tried to pull her away from Inuyasha, "You need some water, Kagome-chan. Houshi-sama, if that hand hits skin Inuyasha will kill you," she cut in when Miroku's hand lifted towards the exposed curve of Kagome's hip.

Miroku gave her an innocent look, "I was merely helping Kagome-chan stand."

Sango gave him a dry frown, "Then again, I might kill you and save him the trouble."

Kagome sucked in a breath sharply, her hand clenching over her chest when she felt a chill streak through her. Her heart pounded and she whirled back to see Inuyasha rising to his feet, wiping blood from his chin while an equally battered looking Kouga faced him across the clearing, panting hard and snarling wildly.

Inuyasha was angry and injured, and it was spilling over into her.

She could distantly hear her memory of the voice telling her not to get angry or use her magic even as her brows lowered and her eyes began to gleam. She slowly turned and started to walk back, turning a freezing glare at the monk and exterminator when they tried to stop her. Satisfied only when they stopped trying to follow, Kagome started walking again, her steps slow and measured even as her hands curled into fists at her sides.

"Houshi-sama?" Sango gritted her teeth, hating the helpless feeling swamping through her as her mind raced for something, ANYTHING she could do.

Miroku looked at Inuyasha and Kouga grappling and then down to Kagome as the aura around her curled and sparked around her, dangerous and more powerful than he remembered her aura being before when she was angry. He took a step back, brow furrowed in concern as he felt for the presences he'd sensed in her the last time they'd seen this.

"Only two magics this time," he murmured in confusion. "But they're...they're mixed together. Inuyasha! Kagome is-"

"Sit!" Kagome yelled when she was almost standing in the middle of the fight.

Miroku's surprise was nearly comical, "Or maybe she doesn't need our help at the moment."

"Dammit, Kagome, what are you-?" Inuyasha reared up, but froze at the look on her face, or more precisely, that he could literally feel the rage pouring off of her. The way her eyes were glowing as she watched first him and then Kouga was deeply unsettling, "No. Kagome?"

Kouga cocked his head as he regarded her, breathing heavily from his previous exertion as he moved to her side. Confused at the odd power vibrating off her, he reached out and touched her arm to draw her gaze, "Kagome?"

"Kouga-kun?" her voice was sweet, a little too sweet and it had Inuyasha trying to inch backwards in concern.

"What is it?" he smiled affectionately, relaxing at the normal response and blissfully unaware of the sense of foreboding surrounding them.

Kagome grabbed his arm with unnatural strength, ducking under it and twisting to slam him over her head and flat on his back. To the amazement of all of them, the moment she had him down, she dropped to one knee, her eyes sparking red as she put all her weight behind her shoulder and slammed her fist into his face.

Inuyasha blinked owlishly at her, slowly rising to his feet as she rolled back on her haunches, glaring down at the stunned wolf youkai, "K-Kagome?"


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Wednesday, December 1, 2004

   InuYasha 31
"I don't see why you're making me sit like this," Inuyasha muttered, pouting as he turned his head to catch a glimpse of Kagome in his peripheral vision. "I've bathed you before. Hell, Kagome, you were naked with me for a week!"

"I was hurt, it was a completely different," Kagome shot him a suspicious glance, clearing her throat when she noticed the way his head was turned. "I mean it, Inuyasha, no peeking!"

In complete defiance, he turned around even more and raised his eyebrows in silent challenge, "You said we're promised to be mated. Shouldn't I be allowed to look now?"

A blush spread from her chest up when the hanyou deliberately let his gaze trail down over her exposed skin and she fought a quick battle between preserving her modesty over venting her indignation.

Some things just had to be handled directly and if she had to swallow her pride a little over it, so be it.

When she lowered one arm, a warm spark lit in the hanyou's eyes almost to glowing and she felt the tattoo heat, pulsing in time with her own heartbeat, just a bit stronger, heavier. The move was unexpected enough that Inuyasha didn't even have a chance to get out of the way when the soapy washcloth smacked him full in the face.

"Dammit, bitch-!" he reached up to yank it off his face.

"Sit," she cut him off, folding her arms over her bosom and grinning at him smugly. When he arched up, his mouth open to return the favor, she giggled and pointed out, "Water. You'll drown me."

"I'll wait," Inuyasha grumbled, throwing it back at her, but turning to sit facing her and folding his arms across his chest to mimic her pose. She was getting sneaky with the spells, waiting until she was somewhere where just couldn't return the favor before using it on him. If she was going to be sneaky, then he was going to fight back in a different way.

When she glared at him and jerked her head to indicate he should turn around again, he just smirked at her, cocking his head to one side, "No."

Her eyes narrowed, "Inuyasha."

"Are you going to bathe or not?" he chuckled softly, one brow arching in almost mocking question. "I can always come in after you, you know. I might if you don't hurry and then how will you keep me from watching? I'd probably even feel like kissing you and who knows how long that would take?"

Kagome set her jaw, and turned her back on him so fast it was a miracle she didn't send herself toppling backwards. How could he be so...casual about the whole thing? Her stomach was doing flips at the suggestion, especially after what they'd been doing yesterday after school. And it just kept getting worse.

She would find herself looking at him and thinking about how it felt, and it certainly didn't help matters that he slept tucked in with her now. In front of everyone, no less! She'd even woken up a few times when his hands wandered or she felt his teeth at her neck and she couldn't help but lean into him and wonder...

She started at the direction on her own thoughts, forcing them out of her head and going back to her bath stiffly, "You give me the worst headaches sometimes, baka."

"You've nearly made my heart stop more than once, so we're even, bitch," Inuyasha smiled warmly at her when she scowled at him and ducked under the water.

The moment she disappeared beneath the surface the smile turned wicked and he turned his gaze to where she'd left her clothes in a small pile on a flat rock beside her bath bag.

**

Miroku's eyes followed Sango's backside down as she bent over, packing supplies into Kagome's bag. Everything was finally getting back into the normal routine they had all grown accustomed to in the last two years and Inuyasha had told them he wanted to move out this afternoon to pick up the search for the shards. He wanted to be moving right after he brought Kagome back from her bath. It would have been irritating if it wasn't so good to see Kagome well again.

Shippo sat contentedly on the monk's knee, munching on yet another bit of his payoff and glancing off in the direction Kagome would be returning from. He'd need to pull her aside and tell her that Inuyasha was being mean, trying to figure out about the thing she seemed to have with his claws and her stomach. He knew she definitely didn't want Inuyasha to know about that, otherwise she wouldn't have given in so fast.

"Why is there so much candy in here?" Sango brushed her hair back over her shoulder, lifting up yet another bag and frowning at it in confusion.

Shippo let out a squeak, launching off Miroku to snatch the bag out of her hands and hold it against his chest defensively, "It's mine! Kagome brought it for me."

Sango arched one brow suspiciously, "All of it?"

"She promised," he puffed up, giving a haughty sniff as his tail twitched in mild agitation.

Miroku rose to his feet, his expression set into his perfect bland look, "Shippo-chan, what do you know?"

"Wha-?" Shippo's mouth dropped open as he looked up at the monk. How was everyone making the connection that he'd only get candy if he knew something? Why now? Kagome always brought him candy and no one ever batted an eye, "I don't know anything! Just like I told Inuyasha!"

"Houshi-sama, you believe it's-?" Sango frowned at the suggestion in the monk's voice, looking down at the kit's guilty look.

"A bribe," Miroku closed his eyes and nodded once. "There is too much of it to be anything else and Shippo is very protective of it all. It's a bribe for certain."

Sango gave him a dry look, "I imagine you would know that better than the rest of us."

Miroku somehow managed to look hurt, "Ah, Sango, I am a priest! I would never accept such things."

Shippo snorted at the same moment as Sango, glancing up at the exterminator before he rolled his eyes and gave the priest an annoyed look, "Right... And I'm a puppy."

Sango shook her head and bent down to the kit, "All right, Shippo-chan, what is it?"

"What makes you think I know anything?" he backed away, chewing on his lower lip.

"You were the one who found the tattoo first," she pointed out.

"That was an accident and I didn't know what I was looking at," Shippo lifted his chin again. "I'm just a kid, what would I know?"

"Now I know you're up to something," Sango brows furrowed.

"This is a very serious situation, Shippo," Miroku moved to stand beside the exterminator, frowning down at him. "If you know something that could help us, you need to tell us."

Shippo shook his head, "How stupid do you think I am? I know how important this is, and if I DID know something about it you think I wouldn't tell? I don't want Kagome to die!"

Sango frowned, not wanting the kit upset over that experience all over again, "Then what is it?"

"If Kagome was bribing me, it wouldn't be anything to do with that weird spell," he gave them a wary look, doing his best to give the impression he was making casual conversation and failing miserably. "IF she was."

Sango straightened, looking down thoughtfully at the blush on the kitsune's cheeks. If it wasn't something important she was sure she could talk to Kagome and get the answer, but the real trick would be getting the girl away from Inuyasha. He really wasn't kidding when he said he wasn't letting her out of his sight. What surprised her though, was that Kagome didn't seem to mind, she hadn't even argued when he slid into her sleeping bag with her or this morning when he took her to bathe. Could they have...?

"No...they couldn't have," she shook off that thought, frowning towards the river, but immediately going still when she felt a familiar hand rub down over her backside and even add in a squeeze.

"Hentai!" Sango spun around automatically, her hand leaving a bright red print on the face of the startled monk. "I knew it! I knew it was to good to be true!" she fumed, Shippo forgotten as he scampered back to Kagome's bag to store his candy safely away.

"S-Sango-chan? What was too good to be true?" he took a step back holding his hands up in a gesture for piece when he saw the particularly murderous glint in her blazing eyes.

"You didn't grope me once the whole time Kagome was hurt," her eyebrow twitched with the effort it took to suppress not just her anger, but the stubborn blush that seemed determined to come to her cheeks. "Now that she's well, I turn my back once and what happens?"

He cleared his throat and did his best to look as dignified as possible with evidence of the slap on his face, "Why, Sango-chan, I had no idea you noticed such a thing. If you were concerned, you should have-"

"Oh, you lecherous, hent-" Sango cut off rather abruptly, the flames in her eyes instantly replaced with a sort of dazed amazement as she looked at a point beyond the monk's nervous expression.

Confused at what had caused his reprieve, Miroku turned around, his brows rising higher than ever as he blinked in surprise.

Kagome had come down the path, her cheeks red and looking mad enough to kill someone while Inuyasha trailed along behind her, obviously laughing and trying to talk to her despite the mark on his cheek that looked suspiciously similar to the one on Miroku's.

Her entire abdomen was bare.

"Ka-gome-sama?" Miroku managed when she stormed past them and went straight to her pack, his eyes glued to the bare expanse of pale flesh. "What happened to your clothing?"

Inuyasha stopped beside the monk, biting his lip in an effort to muffle his laughter as she threw him a look even more violent than the one Sango had been wearing moments ago. Completely ignoring the question, she tugged at the low waistband of the dark jeans and growled at the amused hanyou, "Just how the fuck did you get these?! Where did you get the money?!"

Sango was still blinking in shock, for once her eyes locked to the same thing as Miroku, "They're....they're so...."

"What's wrong with them?" Inuyasha gestured to her. "They fit, right? Not too small? Too big?"

"That's not the point!" she dropped to her knees and went digging through her pack. Shippo jumped to the side, having enough preservation instincts to know this would not be a good time to be in Kagome's way. "I don't wear pants this low!" she pushed aside the supplies and felt around for the clothing she'd brought with her. "Dammit, Inuyasha, now anyone can see this thing," she gestured to the exposed tattoo.

"Why is that bad?" he shrugged, grinning when she let out a sound of triumph and started pulling another pair of pants out of the bag.

"I am not walking around feudal Japan wearing..." she trailed off, looking at the jeans in her hands, brows lowering dangerously when she saw the style. "Inuyasha....!" her hands fisted in the fabric. "Where are my regular clothes?" she shot to her feet, tugging at the short white shirt in an effort to cover her bare stomach.

"Your other shirts are still there," Inuyasha's voice was strained, one coming up to cover his twitching mouth.

"The pants, Inuyasha, where are my fucking pants!" Kagome stalked up to him and grabbed the front of his haori, unaware of the astounded gazes coming not just from her friends but from everyone chancing on this bizarre scene. No one had ever heard Kagome speak like this, or be so bold with the hanyou....

"I lost them," he swallowed hard, unable to keep his shoulders from shaking.

"The same way you 'lost' them at the river? How many pieces are they in?" she released him and smacked her hand over her eyes, giving up on the battle with her shirt to fold her other arm beneath her breasts.

"Did you want me to count?"

"Then you did slice them up too?!" Kagome demanded, her voice likely being heard well into the forest. "God, how the hell DID you get these anyway? You never answered me!"

Inuyasha's grin turned sly, "Souta."

Kagome's mouth fell open and she stared at him with the most disbelieving look he'd ever seen grace her face, "Sou...ta?"

"I figured if he'd keep quiet for a run, I could talk him into helping me," he shrugged, putting on his best look of arrogant superiority. "Don't worry, he borrowed money from you since you're never around to spend it."

"I never suspected you would have such bargaining skills, Inuyasha," Miroku spoke before Kagome could respond. He turned to the hanyou, his voice filled with surprise and admiration. "Who would have thought you had it in you?"

**

Miroku was still wondering what had possessed him to turn his back on Kagome to say that several hours later as they made their way along the familiar path north in search of new rumors. If the girl had been any stronger she may have very well broken his jaw.

It didn't help that Inuyasha had immediately swept his arm around her waist, pressing his hand to the tattoo and praising her on listening so well to what he taught her. Granted the hanyou had managed to ease her anger at himself with the compliments, but she was still glaring at Miroku from time to time before she would turn forward and ignore him for another few miles.

Inuyasha was still grinning like an idiot over what the success of his plan, glancing at her disgruntled expression. She'd changed out of the severely undersized shirt he'd stolen from Souta's closet and back into one of her own, managing to cover most of the skin revealed by the lower pants. He refused to go back and get her other clothes when he'd gone to so much trouble to get these, but amazingly enough, Souta had been delighted to help him. All he'd had to do was let the kid hold Tetsusaiga and he'd been willing to do whatever he asked.

He glanced back at the line of bare skin between shirt and pants and couldn't help but chuckle again. It had definitely been worth it, and all he'd had to do was tell him what he'd seen.

Souta was just as devious as Shippo, waiting until Kagome had gone to the bathroom to shower before snatching some of her pants and her wallet. Inuyasha had been forced to change back into those horrible clothes from her time, but Kagome's mother wouldn't allow the kid to go alone and barely with him. Inuyasha hadn't wanted to leave Kagome alone at all, but.... Everything at her school had gone fairly smooth and it was unlikely she would get as angry with her studying as she had fighting. He'd finally agreed to go with him so long as it was close enough to suit him and they were fast enough that Kagome never noticed they were gone.

In the end Souta had haggled for his mother's permission and they'd been off to a little clothes shop not too far from where they lived that he knew carried what the hanyou indicated.

Inuyasha had seen a few other things he would have liked to pick up, but he doubted he should do that with Souta around, and he had absolutely no idea how their stupid paper worked. Besides, Kagome would be mad enough with the pants, no telling what kind of reaction he'd get if he got her more of those under things she wore all the time.

He'd gotten them home in less than five minutes with the concealing dusk and empty sidewalks to find Kagome still studying up in her room, but the pack downstairs and ready to go. It had almost been too easy to toss the pants on top of the rest of whatever she crammed in there and follow Souta up to change. That's where he'd seen the white shirt, oversized for a boy his age, but on Kagome....

Yes, it had all definitely been worth it.

Inyasha was so distracted with his pleasant musing that he didn't notice Kagome stopping and looking off to the right, her brows furrowed in concentration and then arching in surprise.

He did, however, notice when the wind shifted and filled his head with an unmistakable and hated scent.


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Monday, November 29, 2004

   inuyasha 30
'It's about damn time,' Kagome muttered when her eyes opened on the murky black dreamscape. At least it wasn't so dark as the last time, but just barely, and this time she could actually feel the presence behind her. 'Why is it that when I actually WANT to talk to you, you make yourself scarce, hn?'

'I was occupied.'

'Oh now that's convincing,' she rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest and turning around to glare at where she felt the presence. 'You're messing up my entire fucking life and all you can say is you were occupied? Would you mind telling me just what the hell happened on the new moon? Couldn't you have warned me?!'

There was a long moment of silence and then a deep sigh before it answered, 'We weren't aware it was going to happen like that. We are trying to understand what exactly occurred with the knowledge we do have.'

'I don't believe this,' she rubbed her hand over her eyes to try and dull the ache. 'Are you telling me that this spell is doing things even you don't expect? Do you know why I'm having so much trouble with saying things that aren't me? Why it's so easy to lose my temper?'

'Youkai blood is very strong, and it was in your body for a long period of time.'

'One night is a long time?' Kagome felt her heart pound at the implications of the voice.

'The hanyou's blood line is one of the most powerful, and for you to share it-'

'If you say I'm turning hanyou I'll track you down and kill you,' she growled angrily, cutting him off.

For the first time, she heard the voice chuckle, but she had a sinking sensation that she knew why, 'Oh no, Kagome, there's no youkai blood still in your body.'

'I swear to God I'll find some way to give you a black eye before this is over,' she turned her back on the voice in a huff.

'We had no idea that you would actually absorb the youkai half of his blood when it waned for the month,' the voice sighed and began to explain calmly. 'You remember how I told you that his soul will not release yours? It is the same with his blood. Once it was in your body it began to absorb deeper on its own.'

'Wait, you're saying Inuyasha's blood doesn't WANT to leave mine? You think it's staying in my because it wants to be there?' she glanced back, brows furrowed in confusion. 'I'm so on edge because I still have Inuyasha's blood?'

'Be patient, Kagome, I'm getting to that. Humans feel things differently than youkai, and the hanyou's emotions are using you as an outlet.'

'Damn, no wonder he's been so calm,' Kagome muttered, raking a hand through her hair.

'You're balancing against him and whenever his emotions rise above normal, you pull them into yourself,' it agreed calmly. 'It has... slightly altered you behavioral pattern. You are becoming much less...restrained in the way you express your emotion.'

'I punched him,' she blushed, speaking more to herself than the voice.

'A memory that will live in my heart for centuries, I assure you.'

'But it's Inuyasha's blood making me do this, isn't it?' Kagome shook her head in confusion, sitting down when a wave of dizziness went through her. 'I'm not like this!'

'I'd love to tell you yes, that it's all the hanyou, but actually, all his blood is doing is lowering your inhibitions. All your reactions are your own, but the youkai blood is making you act on your emotions rather than hold them in. Making them more intense.'

'Oh God,' Kagome covered her mouth with her hand. 'How much youkai blood is still in me? HOW low are my "inhibitions," hn?'

'Enough. Most of you is human, but then again, the hanyou's blood seemed to be satisfied with the small bit it has in you. Although I must warn you that it has increased the direction your soul will take from his.'

'In what way?' she asked suspiciously.

'Your heartbeat matches him, and you'll even be able to feel some of his emotions through the mark,' it responded. 'Have you noticed it getting warm sometimes?' 'Painful?'

Kagome froze, a shiver of unease going through her, 'You...sound surprised....'

'It...should not have brought you pain. How often does it do this?'

'Not always... once in a while,' she answered nervously. 'It was the worst with... those youkai.'

The voice was silent again and Kagome was fidgeting restlessly by the time it spoke again, 'What color is the mark now?'

'Red, really dark red.'

'Damn.'

'Wha-what the fuck?! What is that supposed to mean!?' Kagome exploded angrily, rearing up and rounding on the direction of the voice. 'It's YOUR spell, don't you have any idea what's going on? The last thing I want to hear come out of you is "damn" when I ask you what's happening!'

'It's not that simple.'

'You're not exactly inspiring confidence.'

'Don't worry about it.'

Kagome blinked at that, momentarily taken aback at that before she recovered and snorted, 'Easy for you to say, you bastard. It's not your body or your life you messing with.'

'If you died, it would be unacceptable We are seriously attempting to fix the distortions and we have nearly found the energy source that is trying to gain access to you. Once we find that energy source, we can put a stop to it. You'll just have to trust me.'

'The more you say that, the less inclined I am to believe you,' she shook her head and took a step back. 'Every time I talk to you it gets a little more ridiculous to be asking, especially with as little as you want to tell me,' her brows lowered in angry frustration.

'We were unaware that the hanyou's blood and soul would react to being connected to you in this way. The influence it is having on the spell's distortion is well beyond what we anticipated, and the proximity to him only changes it more. However, until we close the other path to your soul, you must stay near the hanyou and risk the change. It's too dangerous otherwise.'

'What about the next new moon, hn? Will the same thing happen? And the youkai blood you say is in me... Will it go away? It's Inuyasha's blood and he needs it more than I do!' Kagome folded her arms over her chest to fight the urge to tear her own hair out.

'I don't have any answers to those questions for you yet,' the large hand she'd felt before came down on her shoulder again but she slapped it away.

Clenching her teeth, she hissed out, 'Did you think any of this through or did you decide to fuck with my life on a whim?'

'Dammit, miko, it wasn't supposed to be like this! We are working as fast as we can to correct the unforeseen errors. Your powers-'

'Don't you dare try blaming this mess on me again,' her voice lowered dangerously as she interrupted. 'I've had the worst month of my life thanks to you and it sounds like it's only going to get worse. I never asked you to tattoo Inuyasha's name on my hip or "connect" us.'

When she met nothing but heavy silence, she had to fight the urge to start growling again, fisting her hands so hard the knuckles went white as she whirled in a circle, 'Damn you! What the hell are you doing to me?! To Inuyasha? To US?!'

It was silent so long that Kagome gave up on getting an answer, dropping down into a seated position and cradling her head in her hands. It wasn't until she felt herself sliding into more soothing blackness that she heard the voice whisper softly in her ear.

'Be patient, Kagome. Just trust me.'

**

Now, if there was only one thing that should have crossed Shippo's mind before he went to sleep, it was that he should have been extremely wary when Inuyasha hadn't said a single thing about him joining the two of them in her sleeping bag.

In a chocolate-engorged, sleepy daze, the kitsune stumbled over to where the hanyou held Kagome tightly spooned up against him, her chest rising and falling with the even peace of slumber. Yawning hugely, Shippo hopped up on the makeshift futon, squirming his way under the bag and down the gapping front of Kagome's nightshirt. He snuggled close against her in his new favorite position, keeping either a little hand or his ear over her heart . Since her near death, the steady thump reassured the kit as nothing else would.

Too tired to care about little things like possessive dog demons, he hadn't registered that the regular growl he got when nearing the bed had been missing tonight. He was warm, Kagome had snuggled him close, and he had spent all day eating chocolate. Shippo was a particularly happy kitsune.

That is, up until a clawed hand caught his tail beneath Kagome's clothes and yanked him rudely from his comfortable roost.

Inuyasha clapped his hand over the kitsune's mouth to prevent the distressed squeal he was certain would wake Kagome and twisted, pressing his back to hers. He knew he should probably take Shippo somewhere else for this little discussion, but he still refused to leave Kagome alone when she was sleeping. He paused when she moved, shifting closer to him with a sound of protest that brought a smile to his lips before he turned his attention to his captive.

Propping himself up so he could glare down at Shippo menacingly, he ground out, "Oi, runt, I think you and I need to have a talk."

Shippo's eyes widened and he began squirming in earnest, his voice muffled behind the hanyou's large hand.

"Quiet," he growled low in his throat, his hand tightening briefly, "If you wake Kagome, you'll regret it."

The kit's eyes grew huge and he nodded quickly in understanding. When Inuyasha pulled his hand away, Shippo hissed at him, "You wait until I tell Kagome what you did to me, you jerk! She'll kick you out and it can be just her and me again like it's supposed to be."

"Wrong threat to use," Inuyasha's eyes narrowed sharply. "And it's not going to work. So unless you want to lose your spot here, I want you to answer me. Why the hell is Kagome giving you candy?"

"Oi, is that all?" Shippo gave him a sour look. "Kagome loves me best, that's why."

"The truth," he warned, still careful to keep his voice soft to prevent rousing the girl behind him. "She's never spoiled you like this before. It's like what that runt brother of hers did, so what is it that you know that would make her do all this, hn?"

Shippo balked, hurriedly trying to come up with an excuse. After all, Kagome had held up her end of their deal and if he broke it, she'd probably take back the rest of his stash! Shaking his head in vehement denial of the accusation, he stammered out, "I don't know anything! I just asked! Really nice with my cute face; the one she can't resist. Honest!"

"Why you little liar," Inuyasha lifted a hand to give the kitsune a smack on the head when what was unmistakably then end of a wooden staff came down hard over the hanyou's head. It was mostly Inuyasha's surprise that gained the kit's release, but the blow effectively flattening the hanyou to the ground definitely made it easier for Shippo to wiggle free.

"Inuyasha, it is very late," Miroku huffed in irritation, lifting the staff meaningfully when the hanyou sat up, rubbing his head and growling. "Bother Shippo-chan some other time and let us sleep."

"Yeah!" Shippo stuck his tongue out him, vanishing under Kagome's shirt again. "Jerk," he muttered, snuggling his ear back up over her heart.

"Move lower, brat," Inuyasha set his hand on the kitsune's head under her shirt and pushed him down away from her chest to her stomach.

"Oi! I wanna listen to her heartbeat!" he whined.

Inuyasha flicked his head through her shirt, "Quiet!"

A quiet jingle had both demons glancing in Miroku's direction to see the monk looking ready to get to his feet and none too pleased about it. Inuyasha waved him off, rubbing his sore head and glaring before he sighed in temporary defeat and curled himself back against Kagome. Wrapping his arm tightly around her waist, he couldn't resist lightly nibbling on her neck and smiling when she sighed and tucked herself against him, her hand coming up to clumsy grope for his ear and rub softly.

Before he let his eyes close, he muttered to Shippo, "I'll find out, you know."

Shippo grunted, unimpressed, "You're just jealous."

Miroku clearing his throat loudly ended the discussion like a father with two disobedient children, turning the members of the group still clinging to wakefulness to the more important task of sleeping.

**

The hazy image flickered along the glass surface like a pond that had just been disrupted by a light touch.

"How very interesting...."


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Saturday, November 27, 2004

   inuyasha 29
In retrospect, it wasn't one of Kagome's better reactions.

While she HAD to admit that it was rather satisfying to see Inuyasha flat on the ground after casually tossing out a comment like that, it wasn't until he was actually down that she recalled his new-found control and restored confidence. Her reaction would be like declaring war on the proud hanyou, and not only that...

"Fuck, I think I broke my hand," Kagome winced and murmured before she really thought about what was actually coming out of her mouth, massaging her right hand with her left in an effort to work out the ache.

Inuyasha was still for a long moment before his hands lifted with measured care to press flat at his sides and push himself up, staring at her with a perfectly blank expression. Nervous at the uncharacteristic silence, she backed away a step as he rose to his feet with that same slow precision. His eyes never blinked or left hers as he lifted his hand to touch his jaw lightly, a thoughtful expression coming over his face.

"Ah....Inu-Inuyasha?" Kagome leaned back, shooting a glance up to her home as though gauging the distance when she already knew the probability of her outrunning Inuyasha was about the same as her declaring her love for Sesshoumaru.

"Stay," he was already directly in front of her, dipping his shoulder to catch her in the stomach when her legs buckled and hoisting her up over his shoulder. She sucked in a breath to yell at him over the undignified, yet newly frequent position when he took a single leap, clearing the stairs and stalking towards her front door. The landing rather effectively snapped her mouth shut and had her grabbing onto his shirt instinctively, as it hadn't been his smoothest one to date.

Inuyasha remained silent as he entered the shrine, carelessly kicking off the sneakers he hated so much, but they insisted he wear with the confining "jeans" and "T-shirts." His ears twitched uncomfortably, prompting him to tear the dark cap off his head without breaking his stride on his way to Kagome's bedroom. Before she could even take a breath to question him again, he was up the stairs, down the hall, and slamming the door closed behind them.

Getting more than a little annoyed herself at his behavior, she set her jaw and smacked her fist lightly against his back, "Inuyasha, put me down right now or I'll say it!"

"Go ahead," he shrugged, completely unconcerned with her demand or her warning. "You keep forgetting that it's not the threat it used to be."

Tensing at the subtle amusement in his voice, she barked out, "Sit!"

Kagome let out a shriek of surprised outraged when Inuyasha kept his hold on her waist, taking her down with him. Their positions when she'd said it had the lower half of her body pinned beneath his torso and Inuyasha let out a grunt of discomfort when her knees were jammed against his ribcage. The sudden impact pulled her flat on her back, the breath punched from her lungs as she stared up at her ceiling in bemusement.

Inuyasha let out a frustrated sigh, propping elbow on the floor and resting his chin in his hand so he could look down at her dazed face, "I would have thought you realized just how pointless the spells have gotten now that we both have them."

Kagome glared at him, "How the hell did you expect me to act when you say something like that?"

"YOU said it!" he tapped a finger against her sternum for emphasis.

"I said we were engaged, not mating, dammit!" she blushed fiercely, looking away from his intense gaze. Her heart was still pounding, stomach tied up in knots over the chaotic thoughts tumbling around in her head after what he'd said.

Inuyasha blinked in surprise and frowned, reaching out to tug on her hair lightly and turn her face back, "So what's engaged? It's a human thing, right?"

She cleared her throat and answered, "Right, a human thing. It's...it's saying you're promised to be married." When he just arched one brow in obvious inquiry for clarification, she let out a sigh and tried it with his wording, "To be...mated. I did NOT tell them that we we're...we're sleeping together!"

"But we are," he shrugged calmly, sliding himself up her body so he could look directly down into her face. He couldn't deny he was a little...okay, maybe a lot disappointed to hear that she hadn't told her humans friends they were mating, but she'd told them more or less that they would be soon, right? A promise to be mated, she'd said.

"Not like that!!" she denied fiercely, her cheeks even brighter than ever.

Inuyasha was more confused than ever and it brought a sharp frown to his face, "But you said-"

Kagome clapped her hand over his mouth, leaning up so they were nose to nose, "Inuyasha, dammit, will you please PLEASE try to understand this?"

He tilted his head to one side, an amused smile spreading behind her hand at how flustered she was with the conversation. He had to bite back a laugh, knowing it would only make her more angry, as he nodded.

Kagome felt that smile and her eyes narrowed, "Okay, stay with me. Engaged for humans is like telling everyone that you're saving yourself for your...um, mate. That you have someone and aren't looking for anyone else."

No reason to complicate matters by telling him all the details, or that engaged couples DID sometimes sleep together the way he was thinking. She'd just said it to get Hojo to stop accidentally setting off Inuyasha and get rid of her friends! It wasn't like it was real or anything, and wait... He thanked her? He was happy at the thought of them... of him and her...?

'Mou, I can't even finish the thought!' Kagome shook her head, her heartbeat lurching at the images rising unbidden in her mind.

Inuyasha felt the jump in her pulse and the smile behind her hand turned smug. His eyes filled slowly with speculation and deciding to test out what her heartbeat was telling him, he ran his tongue lightly along her palm. Kagome's eyes snapped to his, a startled gasp catching in her throat as she yanked her hand away as though he'd burned her.

"Don't do that!" she pressed her hands flat to the floor and tried to scoot herself out from under him.

"Why not?" he leaned more of his body weight onto to hold her still, his eyes bright with the success of that little experiment. The engaged thing might not have meant exactly what he thought it was, but it was a promise that would keep the human men away from her. Even more importantly, she had promised she would mate with 'him,' not someone else.

'Great, couldn't you have asked it any other way?' Kagome absently reached her left hand up to rub his ear and tried to think of a good excuse. "Ah, Souta's here," her eyes lit up and she grinned. That was at least true!

Inuyasha leaned his head into her hand, giving voice to a deep-throated growl even as he argued, "He's downstairs, but what does that have to do with me licking your hand?"

"Have I told you how disturbing it is to know you've gotten so conniving?" she gritted her teeth and grumbled out.

"I'm not conniving," he denied with a frown. "I just want to know why you think your brother being here means I have to stop."

Kagome's hand stilled on his ear, "Stop? Stop what? We aren't doing anything."

"You promised to mate with me to your friends," Inuyasha pointed out when he noticed the stunned look on her face.

"I punched you too," she reminded, hoping that would distract the hanyou from that warm gleam in his eyes. If he kissed her while he was looking at her like that she was done for. It was hard enough keeping her head under normal circumstances, let alone lying on the floor, with him on top of her, in an almost empty house. Would she even want to say no?

"So you owe me for that," he taunted, lifting one of his hands to again rub his jaw. "Consider this revenge."

"Like hell, you deserved it," she folded her arms over her chest and gave him a defiant expression that was totally at odds with the way her heart was pounding at the teasing not in his voice. "I'd do it again."

Inuyasha couldn't help but laugh at that, reaching down to take her hand and lift it in front of his face. He smiled warmly and used his hand to curl hers into a proper fist, "Next time, Kagome, keep your hand like this. You won't hurt your hand so much."

She looked from her closed fist to his face and had to bite back a smile, "You're planning on getting punched again?"

"With your temper lately? Fuck, I'll be lucky if you're not taking a swing at least once a week," he ducked when she tried to hit him from her prone position. Laughing even harder, he caught her wrists and pinned her hands down, "See?"

"Inu-mphf!" Kagome had barely started to growl when his mouth was over hers again, the hanyou settling himself over her comfortably as he slid his tongue deep into her mouth.

Inuyasha growled, his hands flexing briefly on her wrists before he pulled her arms around his neck and freed up his own hands. She'd said it herself, they were promised, so he was willing to let that punch to the jaw slide since the look on her face right before he'd been kissing ground had been positively shocked. It he'd taken her that much by surprise, he supposed he could be generous...

Of course that generous feeling had nothing to do with the fact that at the moment, he was lying on top of her on her bedroom floor, she was kissing him back, and he was sliding his hands down her sides without getting kicked or subdued.

He'd forgotten how much he liked how she looked in these school uniforms, he thought distractedly, his hand sliding under the waistband of her skirt to cover the tattoo on her hip and feel the steady, warm pulse against his palm. Kagome sucked in a breath, her hands tightening around his neck as her eyes slid closed and she leaned up into him, responding just the way he wanted her to. Delighted with the silent encouragement, Inuyasha slid one hand into her hair, the other inching up beneath her shirt.

"That's gross, I'm telling Mom, Nee-chan!" Souta's whine had Inuyasha pulling his hand out from under her shirt and jumping off Kagome so fast he got light-headed, his cheeks suspiciously pink as he growled violently at the cause of the interruption.

Souta was making disgusted faces in the doorway to her room, arms folded over his chest as he watched Kagome yank her clothes back in order, "Souta! You could knock!"

He shrugged, the look turning sly with eerie similarity to the look she'd gotten from Shippo just yesterday, "Why? Oh, because you're up here making out with Inuyasha nii-chan, ne?"

"It's not-!" she started, but Souta just grinned hugely. He had her and he knew it. "Oh this is just fucking perfect," she muttered under her breath, making Inuyasha cough to hide a laugh before she was glaring at her brother and demanding, "what do you want?"

Souta rubbed his chin in a purely villainous way looking back and forth between Inuyasha's amused, averted face and Kagome's murderous one, "Hmm, that's a good question."

"Souta," Kagome's voice lowered in warning.

"Well, his hand WAS up your shirt," he smothered a giggle behind his hand when Kagome's jaw tightened and her face flamed. "That's got to be worth something good," Souta responded matter-of-factly.

Determined to soothe Kagome, Inuyasha reached out as he sat up, pulling her into his lap and setting his chin on her shoulder even as he arched a brow inquiringly at the smug boy, "Spit it out, brat. What do you want?"

Souta's eyes gleamed brightly, "How about you take me for a ride like you do Nee-chan? On your back."

Kagome slumped back against Inuyasha in relief, it almost seemed too easy, "That's it? You just want Inuyasha to take you on a run?"

"Oi, Kagome, I'm not a pack horse," Inuyasha grumbled.

She gave him a sideways glance and hissed back, "You want him telling Mom what he THINKS he saw?"

He grunted in defeat, eyeing the boy grinning at him before he whispered to Kagome, "You owe me for this too."

Souta smacked his hands together in excitement, "Yes! Could you change back into your normal clothes? You look kinda funny in jeans."

"Keh, hear that, Kagome? Your brother agrees with me," Inuyasha couldn't resist smirking at her as he collected his kimono from where he'd left it on her bed that morning. "I look stupid like this."

"Ah..." Kagome opened her mouth but closed it again, her hand covering her still tingling lips to keep herself from blurting out her opinion even as her eyes moved over him admiringly.

He turned to glance at her curiously at the lack of response and smirked at what was definitely appreciation in her deep blue eyes. Chuckling softly, he nudged Souta with his foot, "Out. I'll come down in a minute."

Souta shrugged and nodded, but turned back, "No more of that gross stuff either!"

Inuyasha growled in annoyance, slamming the door closed, "Damn, if he wasn't your brother I'd beat the shit out of him."

"I'm thinking about it," Kagome huffed, accepting his hand for help standing. "Go on. I'll pack while you're gone and we can go back tonight."

"Home," he leaned over to give her a quick kiss. "Say we're going home tonight."

She made a face at him, "You're gotten pretty damn demanding since all this started, Inuyasha."

"Only since you got so damn violent. Someone's got to keep you under control," Inuyasha taunted lightly, grabbing the hem of the plain black shirt and pulling it over his head just to watch Kagome's attention snap around to stare at him in open mouthed surprise. She was frozen in place for a long moment before her eyes flew up to his and she let out a little squeak, running out of the room with the sound of his laughter trailing loudly behind her.

Resolutely, she glared back at her bedroom door, "Sit!"

"Dammit!"

"Don't say it! I'm on the stairs!" Kagome yelled back before he could respond in kind, grinning to herself when she heard the renewed cursing from behind the closed door. Hopefully Inuyasha would forget about her subduing him after his run with Souta.

Wincing, she made her way to the kitchen to check how much chocolate she'd need to buy before they went back, grumbling sourly to herself, "First Shippo-chan and now Souta. How am I getting myself into these things?"

**

"Chocolate!!!" Shippo cheered, vanishing into the oversized pack before Inuyasha had even cleared the top of the well.

Kagome let out a sigh, looking up at the fluffy tail sticking out the opening flap, "You'll make yourself sick if you eat it all at once, Shippo-chan."

He poked his head out to look down at her, a candy bar half-in and half-out of his mouth, "Youkai don't get sick."

"You liar," Inuyasha huffed, swinging the bag around to make a grab for the kit.

Shippo let out a squeak and vanished into the pack, catching the flap and tucking it in behind him, "Kagomeee!"

Kagome caught Inuyasha's hand and shook her head, rolling her eyes, "Let him be, Inuyasha. He'll probably fall asleep before he eats too much."

"But it'll still all be here when I wake up," Shippo's voice was slightly muffled from being tucked inside the pack, but the wiggling lump gave away his location in his search for his pay-off.

Kagome couldn't help but smile as she looked at the lump, sliding her gaze to find Inuyasha shaking his head as he laced his fingers with hers and tugged her off towards the village. Shippo poked his head back out, his vest lumpy from all the individual pieces he'd tucked away, "Oi, how come it took you so long to come back?"

Inuyasha finally smiled, squeezing her hand, "I had to bribe Kagome's brother."

Shippo turned to look at Kagome, giggling brightly, "What did you do?"

Kagome stumbled, glaring at the kitsune, "Nothing."

"Reeeally?"

"Do you want me to protect you from Inuyasha or not?" she returned, ignoring the laughter she could hear the hanyou trying to smother.

Shippo gave her a haughty look, spreading his claws meaningfully and drawing them across his stomach. When she blushed and looked away, he was again smiling smugly, "That's what I thought."

"What's what you thought?" Inuyasha craned his neck curiously back to look at the kit.

"I'm too cute for Kagome to be mean to me," he chirped happily. "She loves me best," he stuck out his tongue at Inuyasha.

"When she's not contemplating throwing him in a lake," she grumbled.

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he looked from Kagome's averted face to Shippo's delighted grin and the candy all over the little kit. He'd never known Kagome to spoil the baby youkai this much, and the frustration in her voice now was almost identical to what it had been with Souta.

Suspicious, he turned his attention to the kitsune. Shippo had known about the tattoo before all of them, so was there something new she didn't want to tell him? Something that Shippo had found out again and was doing the same thing that Souta had done?

Inuyasha tugged Kagome closer to him, his arm possessive as an instinctive rumble escaped his throat. He'd have to nab the kit when Kagome fell asleep and get this latest little secret out of him.

Kagome better not be hiding anything else.


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Thursday, November 25, 2004

   InuYasha 28
There were just some days when you wished you could close your eyes and find out everything from the time you woke up had just been some horrible, twisted dream.

That you were really still tucked into a soft bed, the alarm just waiting to go off and tell you that it was all a nightmare. Nothing that bad could possibly happen in real life...

This just happened to be one of those days.

But fate and whatever else had decided to take a hand in controlling Kagome's life this month were being remarkably uncooperative.

"Hojo-kun...?" Kagome's voice was a blend of surprise, lingering embarrassment, and rapidly descending doom. 'Never think things can't be any worse than they are,' she berated herself over and over again, wishing she could find a tree and bang her head against it in frustration. There was no reason for Hojo to be here, not since he was accepted to university and SHOULD have been in classes himself. She had to have done something to seriously piss off at least one god, maybe more; there was no other explanation for this soon to be enormous mess.

After all, with the way her luck had been lately there was no way in hell this was going to be pretty.

"Higurashi-san, it's so good to see you're feeling better!" Hojo smiled broadly and reached out to take her hands. "I was so worried when your friends told me that you were out much longer than before."

Kagome winced, feeling the tattoo heat and begin pulsing painfully at the same moment she heard the unmistakable growl from behind her. She didn't have a chance to say anything, however, before she heard her friends all chorus in excitement, "Ah...Hojo-kun!"

Kagome smiled weakly at him, mentally counting down from ten to time the explosion as she asked, "You...ah, didn't come all this... way to see me, did you?"

"Aa," he nodded, perfectly oblivious to the half demon likely plotting his painful demise at that precise instant. "I was going to visit you at home, but now I'm so glad I decided to walk past the school. You look great!"

"She had a transfusion and she'd doing so much better," her friends swarmed around her, conveniently forgetting the man with the rapidly darkening expression right behind them in only the way girls intent on their idea of match-making could do. "Isn't that wonderful, Hojo-kun!"

Kagome felt three pairs of hands pushing her closer and the tattoo's pulse increased dramatically, "Ne, Kagome-chan, now you can finally go on a real date!"

"Oh shit," Kagome whispered to herself.

How he managed it, she'd never know, but one minute she was sandwiched in between her well-meaning friends with Hojo holding her hands and smiling affectionately down at her. The next minute she was nearly yanked off her feet away from all of them with a pair of strong, familiar arms wrapped tightly around her waist and a growl vibrating through her from head to foot.

Her friends looked immediately apologetic, realization and chagrin going through their eyes as they darted out from between what looked to be a prime confrontation they had helped cause. Hojo, not having been part of Kagome's earlier self-humiliation, only looked a little surprised and curious at the interruption. He turned his attention to Inuyasha as his smile never wavered, "Oh! Hello, are you a friend of Higurashi-san?"

Inuyasha never released Kagome, but one hand lifted, catching Hojo by the throat and lifting him up high enough that his feet dangled off the ground. His eyes narrowed, glowing fiercely as his clawed hand slowly tightened on the weaker flesh.

He was absolutely incensed. Hadn't this idiot just heard her yell out that she had him? What the hell was he thinking? Looking at Kagome like that and touching her was completely unacceptable, dammit! He tried to tell himself he was only concerned about the monk and the voices, but while that was part of the anger, the largest portion was just the thought that a human boy was touching her. A human BOY was touching her...

What if he tried to steal her away like the man's voice was doing? Would she go to be with someone who was like her instead of a half-breed? No, Kagome, would never do that! Not after she'd promised to always return, and not he'd heard her yell out that he was hers to her school. She wouldn't want to leave if she said that right?

But what if she didn't love him?

That thought sent a new surge of almost desperate rage through him and he lifted the boy higher.

Kagome's friends shrieked in surprise and fright, jumping even farther away and staring at everything in wide-eyed alarm. Kagome only distantly registered the screams and the shouts of students wanting to see a fight as she grabbed the arm he'd wrapped around her waist like a vice and yelled, "Inuyasha, stop it! Put him down!"

Inuyasha ignored her and the yelling around him, focusing his gleaming eyes on the pale face of the human boy who'd been looking at Kagome almost possessively. That was the look that had been enough to start those damn thoughts and doubts, kicking his instincts into high gear to defend what was his. The only thing keeping him from tearing out the boy's throat was the fear that had seeped into Kagome's scent.

Inuyasha forced his temper under control, taking deep breaths in an effort to calm himself for her sake. When he was certain the urge to rip the boy apart had passed, he turned his attention to making sure his claim was clear to this human.

"I want you to listen to me, little boy," Inuyasha growled, low and deadly, dragging him forward so they were face to face. "If I ever...EVER catch you touching my Kagome again, I'll fucking kill you, you understand me?"

Hojo was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, gasping and rubbing his throat as he gaped up at the dangerous looking man holding Kagome and glaring down at him in a way that sent chills down his spine. Everything about this guy just screamed that he was a threat, and Hojo's eyes went to Kagome in instant concern for her welfare.

Kagome tried to shove Inuyasha aside to go to Hojo's aid, but the hanyou only tightened his hold, turning his eyes down to her in a warning not to fight with him over this.

"I don't believe you!" Kagome ignored it and growled right back, bringing her elbow back into his stomach. Maybe it was the same thing that had started those uncharacteristic outburst, but she wanted nothing more right then than to challenge that demand in his eyes, "Hojo-kun is a friend of mine and you attacked him! You had no right to do that, Inuyasha!"

"He touched you. That gives me every right, Kagome," Inuyasha narrowed his gaze on the boy rising slowly to his feet, still rubbing his throat, but now with a wary, determined expression on his face.

"Higurashi-san," Hojo's low voice broke their renewed staring match. "Are you okay?"

Kagome shook her head when Inuyasha started growling again, "I'm fine, are you hurt, Hojo-kun? Inuyasha, let go!"

"We're leaving," Inuyasha turned to go when Hojo reached towards then, obviously intent on stopping the hanyou.

Kagome caught Inuyasha's hand when she felt him start to move, turning to glare up at the hanyou and hiss, "Apologize."

Inuyasha gave her a look that said she'd lost her mind, but laced his fingers with hers instead of going for Hojo's throat again, "Not a fucking chance, Kagome. We're going home. Now."

"Higurashi-san, I don't think you should go with him," Hojo frowned in concern. "He seems so...violent."

Considering the hanyou was still growling low and threateningly in his throat, Kagome didn't see how she could possibly convince Hojo otherwise and settled on digging her elbow into Inuyasha's stomach again, "No, nothing like that. He's just...overprotective with how I...I get sick all the time. I'm so sorry, Hojo-kun! He really didn't hurt you, did he?"

"I'll be all right," his voice was uncertain as he looked between Kagome and Inuyasha. "But you should-"

Inuyasha swore, dropping his hand from around Kagome's waist, but her sigh of relief was cut short when he caught the waistband of her skirt, "Inuyasha, don't-!"

Too late, he'd already pulled the fabric down to show the obnoxious human the mark that clearly displayed she was his. If he couldn't kill him, he'd damn well scare this boy off well enough that he'd never think of putting a hand on Kagome again, "See this?"

Kagome very clearly heard the indrawn gasps even as she squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face with her hands, "Oh God."

"This means you keep your distance, dammit!" Inuyasha waited until he saw the recognition of just what he was seeing click in the boy's eyes before he pulled her skirt back up.

"Hi-Higurashi-san?" Hojo took a step back, confused beyond belief and feeling more than a little dazed. "What...?"

There had to be something she could say, something that would help her save face in front of her friends after this brilliant display of possessiveness from Inuyasha. 'And here I thought I'd never be able to blush after being naked with him so many times,' she thought miserably.

Feeling as though she would forever look sunburned where Inuyasha was concerned, she sucked in a deep breath and stammered out, "He...he's my, ah, fiancé."

When Hojo's face fell sadly Inuyasha decided that had to be something serious to humans and grunted, tugging her back against his chest and giving the boy a sharp nod, "Damn right."

Hojo straightened his shoulders and held out a hand to Inuyasha, "I'm terribly sorry, ah, ...Inuyasha-san, I believe I...I misunderstood."

When Inuyasha just stared at his hand suspiciously, Kagome grabbed his wrist and forcefully extended his to shake hands with the slightly traumatized human, "I should be apologizing, Hojo-kun. I would have told you as...um, as soon as it happened-"

He shook his head, wincing as he withdrew his hand from the nearly crushing grip to give them a more respectful bow, "No, you've been quite ill. I understand, Higurashi-san."

Inuyasha was slightly mollified with the change, the human almost submissive in that painful politeness, and the growl died down a bit to a level only he and Kagome were aware of, "C'mon, Kagome. We're going home."

"I'll talk to you later, Hojo-kun," Kagome forced a bright smile on her face and waved at him when Inuyasha turned them around to stalk back towards the shrine.

"The hell you will," he muttered down at her, his ears barely catching the boy asking, "Was he growling or was that my imagination?"

"Wait! Kagome-chaaan!" Inuyasha was abruptly cut off when Kagome's friends raced around in front of him. They were watching him nervously, edging away to surround Kagome, their faces stern and disapproving when they focused on her. It was almost humorous at how quickly she stopped pushing at his arm and instead backed into him instinctively for protection.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Where's your ring?"

"When did it happen?"

Kagome just gaped at them as they rattled of a slew of questions, talking over each other and grabbing at her as Inuyasha's presence was pushed out of their minds for the second time that day with the rising curiosity of her little "announcement." Unfortunately, Inuyasha didn't seem to either want to or know how to come to her rescue over this one.

"Fuck," she whispered, just loud enough for the hanyou to hear her and start chuckling before she tried answering the chattering girls. "Well...it was when I was ill; we decided on the- ah, tattoo instead; and it was just...so sudden," she put her hands behind her back to cross her fingers and silently pray they'd buy that.

Her friends were quiet for a moment, digesting that and staring at her in speculation before one piped up, "But you're so young!"

Inuyasha perked up at that, going over possible explanations as to why that would be a problem. The only thoughts he could come up with had his smile slowly returning, the good mood he'd entertained before Hojo's appearance pushing aside the instinctive rage that the human had been touching Kagome.

Kagome coughed lightly, keeping her blush down with much more ease than she would have had without everything else that had happened, "We were going to wait until after graduation before we told everyone."

The smile turned smug, he'd been right after all.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Inuyasha bent down and kissed her cheek, flashing the shocked girls a dazzling grin and starting off again, "That's right, we'd appreciate it if you help us keep it quiet."

"I really do have to get home," Kagome called back at them, trying hard to ignore the fact that they wore the same dazed expression gracing Hojo's face just a few minutes ago. "See you later!"

She turned back to Inuyasha the second they were out of sight, smacking him upside the head, "What the fuck were you thinking, hn? You could have killed him!"

"I would have if you hadn't gotten scared!" Inuyasha snapped back, rubbing his head and fighting the urge to yank off the uncomfortable cap. "Dammit, Kagome, you yell out to your 'school' that I'm yours and then you went and got all touchy with that-that boy! What the hell was I supposed to do? I heard you all the way outside!"

Kagome covered her eyes at that reminder, groaning and stalking away from the now laughing hanyou, "And people think girls have mood-swings. Can we just forget that happened, Inuyasha? Please?"

"Why would I want to do that?" he quickened his step to catch up, folding his arms lazily behind his head as he walked. "Now everybody knows you're mine here and in our time."

"No, I meant about me getting carried away...wait, 'our' time?" she stopped abruptly, one brow arching at that.

"Oooh, you mean you want me to forget you yelling in your school," he did his best to make his expression thoughtful, but the tone of his voice readily conveyed there was no way he'd let that one slide.

"I'll remember this for the next new moon, Inuyasha," Kagome warned him and kept walking, determined to end the conversation.

Inuyasha's attention, however had caught on something off to his left as he distractedly called after her, "Oi, Kagome?"

So much for ending it, she sighed in defeat before she asked irritably, "What?"

"Didn't you say you had to buy some things while we're here?" he continued in that same tone, making her stop and turn to look at him in confusion.

'Oh damn, Shippo's chocolate,' she made a face, shaking that off before she folded her arms over her chest, "I'll get it before we go back, why?"

"You need those," Inuyasha pointed.

Confused, she followed the direction he indicated and frowned until she realized he was pointing to a girl. The "those" he indicated, from the way he was looking between the two of them, were the jeans the girl was wearing. Jeans cut lower than Kagome's, low enough to show the tattoo without having to pull aside the waistband.

"Absolutely not," Kagome growled at him, turning on her heel and walking off again.

"What? Then everyone would see it," Inuyasha frowned in genuine confusion and hurried to catch up before falling into step beside her. "It would make things a lot easier for both of us."

Kagome rolled her eyes before giving him a good glare, "Inuyasha, after what you did to poor Hojo-kun, you'll be lucky if I ever admit to anyone else that I even know you."

Inuyasha huffed his opinion of that and trailed after her, replaying everything in his mind until he was chuckling softly at the thought of what Kagome had said. But he waited until they were at the steps of her shrine before he flashed her a wicked grin and looped an arm around her waist. The embrace brought her to a stop, and nuzzling her neck, Inuyasha murmured, "I forgot to say thank you."

"For what?" Kagome sighed and leaned back into him. It was so hard to stay mad at Inuyasha when he was trying to be sweet and affectionate like this, and well...maybe she should cut him a break this once about grabbing Hojo. He didn't know that you just couldn't do things like that in this time after all...

"For telling your human friends you're mating with me."


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Wednesday, November 17, 2004

   inuyasha 27
"Hurray! You smell like yourself again!" Shippo took a flying leap at Kagome the moment she walked into the hut, his delighted cry rousing Sango and Miroku from where they slept on opposite sides of the main room.

Shippo's momentum against her stomach had her letting out a soft "oomph" of surprise and taking a step back only to come up against the unyielding wall of Inuyasha's chest. Inuyasha was instantly growling down at the kit as he steadied Kagome, sliding his arm around her waist, "Oi, brat, what the hell did I say about jumping at her?"

Shippo glared up at him from the cradle of Kagome's arms, "She's better now, you jerk, why can't I?"

"It's okay, I don't mind it," Kagome cut in when she felt Inuyasha tense behind her, smiling down at the kitsune and rubbing his head. "Did you stay up all night just waiting for us to come back, Shippo-chan?"

"Hai!" he rubbed his head against her chest and grinned in delight at the steady pulse of her heart. Pressing his little hand to her side where the wound used to be, he gave her a hopeful look, "And it really is true? You're all better?"

She laughed softly at how huge the kit's eyes were as he stared up at her, "Really. I've actually never felt better that I remember."

"Then... you'll make me breakfast, right?" he made sure to make his eyes as huge and liquid as he could, working up his best "I'm cute, you love me" look. "I'm hungry."

"Oi, Kagome, don't fall for that shit," Inuyasha grumbled sourly in her ear, glaring down at Shippo.

Kagome brought her elbow back lightly into the hanyou's stomach, unable to resist Shippo after he'd been so worried over her, "Of course I will."

"Keh," Inuyasha tightened his arm around her waist briefly, leaning down to brush a kiss over her temple before releasing her.

Shippo's smile turned sly again, but he waited until Kagome had moved away from the hanyou before he climbed up to her shoulder. He snuck a peek at Inuyasha, making sure he was distracted by something the sleepy-eyed Miroku was saying and whispered in her ear, "I'm still gonna tell him."

Kagome abruptly dropped the ramen packets she'd fished out of her pack, her stomach flipping like crazy, "Shippo-chan!"

Inuyasha's head turned at her horrified whisper, straightening away from the monk and focusing on her when her scent agitated, "Kagome? What's wrong?"

Kagome's cheeks were bright red as she ducked her head, bending to collect the ramen, "Nothing! It's...it's just that Shippo only now made me think of how much work I'll have to make up at school."

He kept looking at her suspiciously for a moment before he turned his attention back to Miroku but the look he gave her before he did warned her he intended to ask more later. Shippo was desperately trying to smother his laughter, both hands clapped over his mouth while Kagome hissed at him quietly enough to escape Inuyasha's hearing, "Damn, Shippo, just what do you think you'll tell him?"

Shippo leaned back to look at her red cheeks, his tail wagging proudly at his observation, "Your smell changed when you tried to cut the bandage and even more when Inuyasha helped. It was easy cause you had 'his' blood instead of yours. The smell was just like my mom's before she and papa would tell me to go play so they could be by themselves. Papa said that's what mates do sometimes."

Kagome's blush darkened at that and she clapped her hand over the kit's mouth before sneaking a quick glance at Inuyasha to make sure he wasn't listening, "You'd better not repeat that if you plan to live to adulthood."

Shippo's eyes gleamed brightly with glee that he'd guessed right, and he tugged her hand down, "And what'll you give me if I don't?"

She blinked at him several times, before she got out, "You're...you're blackmailing me?!"

"No," he shook his head, his brows lowering briefly in confusion an the unknown word. "I just want stuff or else I'm going to tell on you."

"That IS blackmail," she pointed out dryly.

"Oh," Shippo's eyes widened for a moment before he grinned at her. "I guess I am then," he giggled at the prospect. He knew she would give in, he could already tell from her voice. For some reason, Kagome didn't want Inuyasha to know she was doing mate things around him, but so long as it worked out for him, what did it matter? "Sooo, how about you bring me a whole lot of chocolate?"

Kagome let out a weary sigh, "How much is a whole lot?"

"This much," he held out his arms as wide as they would go.

"We'll see," she made a face.

"Oh, Inuyashaaaa!" Shippo called out in a sing-song voice.

Kagome snatched him up again, covering his mouth while Inuyasha turned to them curiously, "Ignore him!" But to the kitsune she hissed, "All right, you win! Chocolate."

"Hurray!" he hopped out of her arms and picked up the ramen for her, humming to himself proudly as he carted the makings of breakfast over the fire pit to help cook.

Inuyasha was still staring at Kagome, his brow arching in question, "Kagome?"

"Forget it," she grumbled, scowling after the kit with her eyebrow twitching in suppressed annoyance. "We need to go home today, Inuyasha."

"What for?" his ears flicked towards the kitsune when he heard a murmur that sounded suspiciously like "candy."

"I haven't been home in weeks!" Kagome blinked at him in surprise before it changed to the same irritation she'd shown Shippo.

"I took you back to get medicine," he pointed out matter-of-factly.

"And we came back before anyone saw us," she returned with a frown.

"YOU wanted to," Inuyasha folded his arms over his chest. He absolutely refused to blame for that when she was the one who'd urged him to hurry before her family got home, "You said you didn't want your mother to see you."

"I didn't, but now I do," Kagome's attention momentarily shifted when she noticed Miroku giving them both a knowing smile. "What, Miroku-sama?" she sighed wearily, rubbing her forehead in annoyance.

"It is good to see you feel well enough to argue with Inuyasha again, Kagome-sama," Miroku dipped his head at her in a teasing bow before giving her a warm smile. "We were very concerned."

Kagome had opened her mouth to respond when Sango wrapped her arms around her shoulders and pulled her into a hard embrace, "We're so happy you're okay! Even if you did have to borrow Inuyasha to do it."

"Oi! What's that supposed to mean?" Inuyasha glared at the exterminator's back, but subsided when Kagome shook her head at him, her arms lifting to hug her back. He shot Miroku a glare and turned his back on all of them in frustration, "Keh, stupid girl thing."

**

Inuyasha lifted a hand to prevent Kagome from existing the well house, "One more time."

Kagome rolled her eyes, "This is getting ridiculous."

"We can always go back," he shrugged and reached for her waist.

"No!" she hopped to one side, smacking his hands away. "Fine. I can't go out of your range of spirit, you have to smell it before I drink it, and I tell you the minute I feel anything strange."

Inuyasha nodded in satisfaction and gave her nudge to get her moving, "I'm not taking any chances, Kagome."

"Do you have to be so domineering about it?" she gave him a glare over her shoulder but obediently started for her house. "I feel like I'm five and getting scolded by my dad," she huffed her hair out of her face and grumbled.

"Only until we figure all this out," he took a slight hop forward to loop his arm around her waist and nuzzle against her neck, taking delight in the way her breath caught in her throat. "You almost died on me, Kagome, and I'll do anything to make sure it doesn't happen again," he growled in her ear quietly.

Kagome didn't want her family to know just what was going on and while she'd expected an argument from Inuyasha, he'd surprised her by agreeing. When she'd looked surprised, he just snorted and lifted his nose arrogantly, "I'm not about to tell your mother you were almost killed. She'd likely cut off my ears and we'd end up having to sneak you here."

She'd laughed and returned, "She probably wouldn't let me go anymore. She'd try to seal the well or something."

Inuyasha had caught her chin at that, looking deep into her eyes before he whispered, "If she said no, what would you do?"

Kagome remembered her eyes sliding away from his, down to the tense line of his mouth, "As if you'd let that stop you from coming for me."

"But what would 'you' do, Kagome?" he'd pressed. "If it was closed, would you still try to return?"

She'd lifted her hand to his face and given him a soft smile, "Always, Inuyasha."

It wasn't exactly confessing how she felt about him, but it had earned her one helluva kiss from the relieved and excited hanyou. Her fingers lifted to her lips absently as just the thought of it had them tingling with remembered sensation. She heard Inuyasha chuckle before lightly nipping her neck just to watch her jump in surprise.

"Will you stop that?" she hissed, turning around and feeling her face heat to a fierce blush when she saw Souta grinning at her from where he hung out the kitchen window.

Souta started to giggle softly, propping his chin up on his hands as he took in Inuyasha's smug expression and his sister's pink cheeks, "Soooo... what have you been doing in the past, Nee-chan?"

"Excuse me, Inuyasha, I have to go murder my brother," she said stiffly before she literally jumped through the window to chase after the laughing boy.

Inuyasha blinked after her in surprise, shaking his head as he shrugged and entered the house the same way, "Damn, maybe some of my blood stayed behind."

"Mom! Help meeee!" Souta was shrieking from somewhere deeper in the house, followed by a nasty sounding crash.

"Gotcha!" Kagome's triumphant shout had the hanyou dumping the depleted pack on the ground and making his way to the living room.

He couldn't help but smile at the sight of the upturned couch with Souta and Kagome in a tangled heap, just as she'd said when she'd wrestled with him the night before. Souta was laughing, pleading, and shrieking while the older girl mercilessly attacked his ribs, muttering the whole while about being too nosy.

"Inu...yasha nii-chan! Help!" Souta got out between giggles, pushing ineffectively at his sister and giving the hanyou his best worshipping expression to convince him.

Inuyasha sighed and walked over to pluck Kagome off the boy, tucking her into his side to keep her from going after the boy again. Smiling at her disgruntled expression, he brushed her hair out of her face and gave the couch a pointed look, "Now I know you're feeling better."

**

Kagome was smiling as she gathered up her books when the bell rang to signal the end of school. Inuyasha was somewhere close, waiting for her impatiently no doubt, but however she'd managed, he'd agreed to let her go so long as he was close. She'd seen him once or twice, lounging against trees in the school yard and yet again dressed in the modern clothes he hated so much. She was certain the only reason he hadn't been run off the property was the fact that he still had the Tetsusaiga close at hand.

"Wow, Kagome-chan, you look a lot better than the last time we saw you," her friends swooped in on her the moment she was out the door, trailing along with her with curious expressions.

"Yeah, did you get a transfusion or something?" the second piped up.

Kagome stopped, half surprised at the suggestion and the other half even more shocked to think of what really had happened in that light, "A transfusion?"

With the other girls giving her looks like she'd lost her mind, she blushed and shrugged, "What? You're so sick all the time, I thought you would have had one or two!"

"That's so stupid," the first girl shook her head and tsked while Kagome started walking again.

"Actually, I did," Kagome murmured absently.

"Oh."

Kagome could only giggle at the look of amazement on her friends faces, waving it aside casually, "You're right though, I just hadn't thought it was the... transfusion that did it."

Recovering, they fell in step around her again, but this time with a different topic in mind, "So, when are you going to tell us about that hot guy who picked you up last time?"

"Oh yeah!" the others were immediately giggling, blocking Kagome's way to get her to stop and answer them. "Who is he? Is he available?"

Kagome expression immediately darkened and she felt the tattoo begin to throb at the unexpected question. Her response was instant, fierce and completely unexpected even to herself, "He's MINE!"

The hallway went instantly silent, the students all turning at the loud outburst while Kagome clapped her hands over her mouth, her face flaming with mortification at not just her automatic reaction, but the sudden attention. Her friends were gaping at her, just as stunned as the rest of the students, if not more so. Clearing her throat in an effort to regain a measure of dignity, she stalked down the hall to the main doors.

It certainly did absolutely nothing for her temper that the first thing she saw upon exiting was Inuyasha laughing his head off on the front lawn beside the steps.

"Goddamn youkai hearing," Kagome snarled under her breath, gritting her teeth as she resolutely walked down the steps and kept right on going down the walkway.

Inuyasha stumbled to his feet, shoulders shaking as he looked back at the school to see the same three girls who'd been walking with Kagome the last time he'd come here. They were looking from him to Kagome, blinking in amazement before they seemed to shake off whatever had them hanging back and raced past him to catch the fuming girl.

Now why the hell couldn't she seem to do anything normal lately? Kagome wondered as she lifted her hand to rub her aching forehead. It was so odd, but the moment her friends had suggested an interest in Inuyasha she'd had the nearly irresistible urge to answer them as though it was a full on challenge. This had to have something to do with the spell, it just wasn't HER to react like that!

She let out a heavy, disgusted sigh, trying to ignore the sound of her friends calling her and Inuyasha's laughing demand that she stop. Not a chance, not until she found a large rock to curl up under for the rest of her life.

She'd just done a brilliant job at ruining her day and her already less than perfect image at school, and she seriously doubted there was anything else that could happen to make it any worse.

"Higurashi-san!"


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Tuesday, November 16, 2004

   inuyasha 26
"Well, sorry, it always looks so easy when you do it," Kagome shot the swearing hanyou-gone-human an apologetic look while trying hard not to laugh at the whole mess she'd just caused.

"You make a fucking clumsy hanyou, Kagome," Inuyasha grumbled, rubbing his aching head as he pushed himself off the ground and glaring at her.

"You shouldn't have squirmed around so much," she put her nose in the air and rolled up to her feet with borrowed grace. "And you go jumping off so often I wanted to see if it was any fun," she shrugged, holding out a hand to help him rise.

Kagome had wanted to see if she could run the way Inuyasha always did, and to her delight, she'd found herself effortlessly moving so fast that the landscape around her blurred. Inuyasha was not only a lot taller than she was, though, but much bigger, and even with his strength it had been awkward to hold him over her shoulder. So with Inuyasha twisting and swearing, demanding to be put down but afraid to use the subduing spell for fear of hurting them both, she tried to land.

Unfortunately, that part had turned out to be a lot more difficult than Inuyasha made it look and they had ending up crashing rather hard in a tangle of arms and legs. To Kagome, the rough landing had been mildly uncomfortable, but from the way Inuyasha was swearing, it had to have been a bit painful. Especially when she recalled what it felt like to her whenever she'd ended up taking an impromptu dive to the ground.

Inuyasha glared at the offered hand, propping elbow against the ground to rest his head on his palm. Grunting in irritation, he ignored her attempted assistance and kicked her lightly behind the knees. The unexpected motion swept her legs out from under her, dropping her with a thump to the ground next to him while he sighed arrogantly, "See? Clumsy."

"Dammit, Inuyasha, I apologized!" she snarled out angrily, rubbing her tailbone as she glared at him. "What did you do that for?"

He shook his head and chuckled softly, reaching out to give her hair a tug, "I think you make a good me."

"That does it," Kagome pounced at him.

Inuyasha let out a shout of surprise when she crashed into him again, knocking the breath from his lungs and likely giving him a new bruise or two. Recovering, he let out a sound that was as close to a growl as he could manage in his human form and just barely managed to wrestle her to the side and rise to his knees. Kagome caught his arm as she tumbled and yanked him with her, losing her already precarious balance when Inuyasha gave her a nudge with his shoulder to regain the advantage.

When she managed to reverse them yet again, her legs clamped around his sides and making his ribs groan, he yelled out, "Oi, bitch, knock it off! You're stronger than you think this way."

"Even better! This is just like wrestling with Souta," she pinned him down, flashing his own smirk into his annoyed face before her ears perked up and she completely lost interest in the boy beneath her. Kagome lifted her head, her ears twitching like crazy as she started turning to follow the directions of the sounds reaching her highly enhanced hearing.

"Keh," Inuyasha's brows drew together in confusion at her actions and he mentally cursed the moon for keeping him from hearing what distracted her. He pushed that aside even as he took advantage of her inattention to reverse their positions before she accidentally cracked a rib or worse. His head cocked to one side to regard her almost painfully curious expression as she continued to look off into the woods, "What's gotten into you, Kagome? Are you all right?"

"I... I can hear... all sorts of things," Kagome's eyes were bright as she glanced up at him before turning her gaze back to their surroundings. "It's so weird," she whispered, a look of concentration coming over her face as she tried to focus on the individual noises.

He smiled gently, reaching down to rub the base of the nearest ear and laughing again when she instinctively tilted her head into the touch. He doubted she even realized she was doing it, she was so engrossed in listening to everything around her.

What would it be like for a human to suddenly have senses like his? He focused on his senses now, as a human, comparing it to what he was accustomed to in an effort to empathize with her enthrallment. The brought a thoughtful look to his face as he watched Kagome's eye dart around as though she'd never seen a forest in her life. As a human, his senses were so dulled that he felt helpless, weak... He relied so heavily on his youkai blood that he'd never stopped to about it from the human point of view. No wonder she'd been cringing when everyone was yelling in the hut. He was at least used to dealing with the heightened levels.

"I think I know why you miss this," Kagome was murmuring softly, snapping his thoughts from their deep introspection. "Even if it's a little overwhelming, it's... it's just amazing."

Inuyasha blinked in surprise, "Y-yeah. I guess it is."

A shiver went through Kagome when he lightly scratched her ear and a soft rumble worked vibrated in her throat, making her blush while Inuyasha grinned hugely, "Ahh, so it doesn't tickle?"

Kagome slapped a hand against his chest, her eyes widening in surprise when he went flying into a nearby tree trunk. Blinking in amazement, she sat up on her haunches and gave him a rueful smile, "Oops?"

"Bitch!" he picked himself up again, glaring at her. "Hanyou, Kagome, HANYOU! That means you have my fucking strength!"

"I've never had it before, give me a break!" she snapped right back at him, feeling her blood heat. Was this just part of having youkai blood? Everything in her screaming to challenge Inuyasha's yell, to dominate.

"O-oi, don't get angry!" Inuyasha held up his hands when she started to growl, she wouldn't have any idea how to control herself if she had all his instincts and unfortunately, he knew he was hitting all the triggers. The last thing he needed to deal with was Kagome possibly getting possessed while he was human and unable to help her without risking serious injury to them both.

"Then don't fucking yell at me!" Kagome demanded, folding her arms over his chest.

She was instantly contrite, sneaking a look at Inuyasha's concerned expression despite the bruises that were darkening on his face from his less than gentle landings. He really was trying to help, in his way... and all she could think about doing was taking his head off. Swearing beneath her breath, she smacked herself on the side of the head before muttering in disgust, "What's gotten into me?"

"You're usually human," he pointed out, shrugging as though it should have been obvious to her.

"YOU don't act like this," she made a face, but then stopped herself and snorted. "What am I saying, yes you do."

"Oi!"

Kagome giggled, turning her back on him as she turned her attention back to the woods around her and closed her eyes. This really was amazing, all the little things she could smell and feel in the night, her ears flicking back and forth in an effort to pick up and distinguish the little sounds in the woods around her. There were rustling branches, animal sounds, Inuyasha breathing and his heartbeat, the shifting in his clothes and the faint click of beads....

Wait... beads?

"Inuyasha!" Kagome swung around, her eyes wide when she saw him grinning, the prayer beads lifted to eye level. "Sit!"

Kagome hit the ground hard, yelping in alarm and unexpected pain.

Inuyasha blinked in surprise then burst out laughing as what happened clicked in his mind. Losing his hold on the rosary in favor of clutching his stomach as he dropped to the ground, rolling on his back.

"What the hell?!" Kagome pried her upper body off the ground and reaching down to grab her hip.

"My blood... your body," he managed, laughing so hard tears streamed down his cheeks. "You...you subdued...yourself!"

"Oh, I'm so going to hurt you," she shot forward the second it wore off, grabbing his wrists and flattening him to the ground.

Inuyasha used her own momentum to roll them over, once again crouching above her and breaking her hold on his wrists before smirking, "I told you, Kagome, I'm a better fighter."

"Yeah? But right now I'm stronger," she grinned back, bringing her knees up against his back to pitch him off her. She giggled as he groaned and rose to his feet, "This is fun!"

"This really isn't getting us anywhere, you know," he grumbled at her. "All we're doing is knocking each other down."

"I guess you're right," Kagome sighed in regret, reaching up to tug lightly on her ear. "I mean, I don't want to actually hurt you or anything..."

"Keh, you? Hurt me?" Inuyasha snapped into the perfect image of wounded male pride. "Not a chance, little girl."

She made a face at him, "Hey, you have my strength and I have yours. Are you saying that you wouldn't stand a chance against a human?"

He gave her a sour look, "That's not what I meant."

Kagome turned her back on him again, her ears swiveling forward and back as she stretched lazily. It was more than a little disturbing to have these thoughts going through her head, the enjoyment she derived from irritating the human Inuyasha. Who would have thought it was this complicated to be a hanyou?

"Inuyasha?"

"What?" he folded his arms over his chest, nose in the air.

"What if we don't change back in the morning?" Kagome sat down where she stood, ears flattening back at the sudden change in her thoughts.

Inuyasha sighed softly, his annoyance draining away as he walked to her side and sat down as well, close, but not touching, "We'll figure something out."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "It's your power. I mean, this is really... unbelievable..."

He snorted, reaching out to loop his arm around her waist and pull her close, "How about if we don't change, I take off the beads?"

"You really want me to kill you, don't you," Kagome glared at him, smacking him on the head and knocking him back.

He was still chuckling as he sat up, reaching for her again despite her growling. If it was his blood, it was all for show, he thought with a widening grin when she rubbed her head under his chin. 'Definitely all for show,' his hand was back at her ear, rubbing lightly to get her to lean into him again. 'Maybe it put more of me in her head than I thought.'

"You look cute with my ears," Inuyasha smiled when he felt her pulse jump under his hand.

Kagome blushed, "I...like them better on you."

He grinned hugely, moving his hands down to her waist and urging her to her feet. She was surprised, and definitely confused, but she followed as he led her to a large tree and sat down. Leaning back against the trunk, he tugged lightly to bring her down into his lap again.

Kagome stared at the claws on her hands as she felt Inuyasha reach up to stroke her ears again, "How much longer?"

Inuyasha looked up at the sky, frowning as he tried to calculate how much time had passed since sunset. "Probably another hour or so, considering you wasted most of the night with that idiotic running around," he shrugged and guessed.

"Was it really that long?" she twisted to look up at him in surprise. "It didn't feel like it."

He gave her a dry look, "Maybe not to YOU."

Kagome made a face at him, "You carry me like that."

"I'm a man!" he emphasized angrily. "It's completely different."

She rolled her eyes, "Ookay."

"You'll understand eventually," Inuyasha promised in the way only a self-assured male could.

Kagome laughed lightly, reaching up to touch his cheek, "I'm sorry about your face."

"They'll go away when you give me back my blood," he shrugged, unconcerned.

They fell into a companionable silence, Inuyasha rubbing her ears and marveling at how relaxing it was to sit here and listen to Kagome's light growling purr. He smiled, leaning back against the tree and grunting lightly when he felt how sore his back was. Hoping his demon healing would be back soon enough to heal the bruises gained from Kagome's unconscious use of his strength, he slid his arm under her legs to turn her to one side.

Kagome looked up at him curiously, but he was leaning back, eyes closed with a peaceful expression on his face. She couldn't help but smile at that, the hand on his cheek stroking lightly before her eyes drifted down to his mouth. 'He keeps kissing me. Every time we do it gets even more...intense. It's... I really love kissing him...'

Inuyasha felt her gaze, one eye opening to see her staring at his mouth. He smiled, watching her blush as her gaze flew up to his, "Thinking about something?"

"Baka," her eyes showed her embarrassment as she started to tuck down and hide her face against him.

He caught her chin and kept her from looking down, "You know, Kagome. I've never kissed anyone when I was human."

Funny how a person could still blush after being naked with someone, the thought repeated in Kagome's head even as she was mesmerized by the warmth in Inuyasha's eyes. Then she wasn't thinking at all as he closed that little gap between them and yet again her mouth was being consumed in the warmth of his own. A helpless whimper escaped her throat as his hands tilted her head up before one moved up to rub her ear.

Had she thought it was hot before? It was nothing compared to what she was feeling now, her hand sliding into his hair absently. She was vaguely aware of his other hand sliding down her back and turning her to face him, but that seemed so meaningless with all the feelings rushing through her now. It only got worse when his hand slid under her shirt to stroke up her spine while he leisurely explored her mouth.

Inuyasha felt the odd tingle first, the shiver that went through him from head to foot and had him lifting his head to look at the sky in surprise, 'Already? We've been kissing that long?'

Kagome was looking up at him, her eyes glazed and heavy-lidded when he turned his attention back to her, lightly stroking her cheek. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and whispered, "Sunrise."

She blinked, trying to make the connection between what he said and what they were doing, "Hn?"

He chuckled richly, taking a deep breath as his heart lurched and began to race even more than it had been previously when they were kissing. It was the strangest thing to stare at her as he felt his youkai blood returning, the ears on her head sliding down even as he felt his own elongate. The amber of her right eyes darkened steadily and a shudder rippled through her as his hair began to lighten.

Kagome sucked in a gasp, rising her hand to heart while Inuyasha brought both hands up to her face again. There was a brief heartbeat of time when Inuyasha could feel their blood balance perfectly; halfway between his transformation back to a hanyou and Kagome's back to a human. It was the most intimate moment he'd ever experienced and he had the most insane desire to find some way to freeze them in that feeling.

He could hear her heart in his head and feel the heat swamping through her blood even as he leaned down to catch her mouth for another drugging kiss.

Inuyasha knew.

In that instant he was well aware of every one of Kagome's thoughts, her feelings as he kissed her. It made him almost euphoric even as the last of his youkai blood seeped back into him and he lost that light connection. Stubbornly, it was a long moment before he actually released her mouth, breathing in the comforting scent before he broke away and tucked her tightly against him. Not yet...

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered, looking up at him with a sense of wonder on her face. He looked down at her, his eyes searching hers for the answer he hoped he would find there.

Soon.


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Monday, November 15, 2004

   inuyasha 25
Inuyasha lifted one hand tentatively to the top of Kagome's head, stroking it through her hair until his fingertips found exactly what he'd been hoping he wouldn't, "Fuck, this is not happening..."

Ears.

Kagome had his ears.

They flattened down when she looked up at him, her right eye squinted completely shut and the left half-closed as though she was looking into something bright. The moment she felt the movement at the sides of her head, Kagome went so still she could have been a statue. On the heels of that, she began to shake, her hands curling into tight fists in his robes, and he grunted when he felt the sharp prick of claws against his skin, "I...Inu...yasha, do I-?"

Inuyasha was just staring down at her as she trailed off, her voice pleading, whisper soft and horrified. His mouth was slightly open, eyes moving over her face in denial and disbelief as his hands moved up to cup her face carefully.

Shippo tugged at her shirt front again, demanding attention as he announced, "Eew, Kagome, you...you smell like HIM!"

Sango sat down rather abruptly, making Kagome wince at the sudden sound and turn her head, her eyes still nearly closed and blinking rapidly in an effort to focus as the exterminator choked out in surprise, "K-Kagome-chan?"

Miroku stepped back, shaking his head and looking back and forth between the human Inuyasha and, if Shippo's yell was right, a hanyou Kagome, "This... this should not be possible..."

Inuyasha's brows drew together as he slid his hand up to give into the sudden urge gripping him while he looked at his features on her head. Gently he touched one triangular ear, ignoring the others in the room completely as he marveled at the soft feel against his fingers. The ear twitched and flattened away from him and she grunted, "Don't do that! That tickles."

Inuyasha's lips twitched in helpless amusement before he bit down to prevent the laughter from escaping and cleared his throat. Forcing himself to take on a more serious expression, he turned to give Shippo a hard glare, "Oi, brat, what do you mean she smells like me?"

Shippo gave him a sour look over his shoulder, "Just what I said, jerk, she doesn't smell like herself anymore. She smells like you instead." He blinked suddenly, frowning and leaning closer to Inuyasha to take an obvious sniff before he flattened back against Kagome in alarm, "Hn?!"

"What is it?" Inuyasha scowled, pulling Kagome back against him instinctively at the look on the kit's face.

Shippo pointed at him accusingly, "Y...YOU....smell...like...like Kagome!?"

Inuyasha stared at him blankly, then looked at Kagome and back down to kit in confusion, "Wh-what the hell are you talking about!?"

"Kaede-sama, what's going on?" Sango put a hand to her head and turned her own confused gaze to the old miko. This was just too much to take in, and her head was already spinning from the emotional ups and downs of the last week and now this. Absently, she reached out for Miroku, her hand squeezing his arm in an unconscious request for support.

Kaede shook her head, letting out a heavy sigh before she slowly turned her focus down to the shaking kitsune, "Shippo, what do you mean by that? Does Kagome smell like a hanyou?"

He shook his head frantically, scaling Kagome's chest in a quick hop to hide under her hair when Inuyasha made a wild grab for his tail, "No! Damn, aren't you listening? She smells like Inuyasha is supposed to... They smell all wrong! It's...it's all backwards!"

"Backwards?" Inuyasha made another grab for the kitsune, sending him scurrying down Kagome's back. "Get back here, runt, I'm not through with you!"

Kagome squeezed her eyes shut when a shudder wracked through her from head to toe, giving a soft gasp and clamping her hand hard over her shoulder, "It burns...."

Inuyasha glared at Shippo but turned his attention to the distressed girl, catching her white-knuckled hand with his and prying lightly, "Don't do that, Kagome! Let go... let me see it."

Kagome opened her eyes and looked up at him, gritting her teeth, "Inuyasha, what's wrong with me?"

Inuyasha sucked in a breath sharply, grabbing her face as his eyes bored hard into hers, calculating and more than a little disbelieving. His brows lowered slowly as he lifted his index finger and touched the corner of her right eye before he shook his head and swore blackly, "Baba, what the fuck is going on?"

Miroku frowned, reaching up to give Sango's hand a reassuring squeeze in answer before he leaned around Inuyasha to look at Kagome's face. The bruises were fading rapidly, lightening even as he stared at her, but that wasn't what caught his attention.

Kagome's right eye had turned amber.

Confused, he grabbed the back of Inuyasha's hair and yanked, turning his face up so he could study it. Inuyasha let out an outraged yell that had Kagome cringing while Miroku rubbed his chin with his free hand and hummed to himself curiously, "Inuyasha, your eye has turned blue."

Inuyasha's cursing cut off abruptly, his face twisting into frustrated annoyance, "Blue? What the hell are you talking about?"

He nodded, giving his hair a tug that was hard enough to topple the human Inuyasha backwards, "As in blue like Kagome-sama's."

Kagome squeaked in surprise, when Inuyasha fell, dragging her with him to sprawl against his chest, jarring her uncomfortably and knocking the breath out of his lungs. Startled and afraid she'd hurt him, she pushed herself up, reaching for Shippo to soothe him even as she looked down at Inuyasha in concern, "Are you okay?"

Sango shook her head, completely fed up with Inuyasha's stubborn refusal to let them help. That fall should have hurt the younger girl far worse than she seemed to notice... Did that mean that for whatever reason, she was healing the same way Inuyasha would? She reached out to gently grasp her shoulder, "Kagome-chan... Would you... please let us see your injuries?"

Kagome looked up at her in surprise, her hand moving off Shippo and moving down to her side. Inuyasha had surprisingly gone quiet, propping himself up on his elbows and watching her with narrowed eyes as her fingers hovered over the worst of her wounds. She frowned, but lifted the edge of her shirt, her abdomen contracting in surprise when she felt the tips of her new-grown claws graze her stomach.

Her gaze leapt to Inuyasha as her cheeks turned pink before she dropped then back to her lap and fumbled with the bandage. He arched one brow in speculation at the blush, but shook it aside and frowned at her clumsy attempts, "Fuck, Kagome, just cut it! Here, I'll show you," he sat up, reaching out to grab her wrist.

Kagome jumped at the contact, her eyes still glued to the bloody bandage as he took her fingers and eased them down through the fabric as though they were his own. She sucked in a breath and he stopped, "Did I cut you?"

"No, no, nothing like that," Kagome shook her head, for once incredibly grateful that Inuyasha was human. If he was normal he would surely have heard her heart pounding by now, even without the blush staining her cheeks. "I'm okay," she insisted when he continued to look uncertain.

Shippo leaned back, giving her a narrow look before he hopped onto Inuyasha's head and leaned forward to put his nose to hers. Kagome gulped at his suspicious glare, backing away nervously when the kit looked from her face down to where Inuyasha had taken her hand away and finished slicing the bandages. His face suddenly broke into a huge grin and he started to giggle, "Oh."

"What the fuck do you mean, 'oh?'" Kagome growled defensively, instantly slapping a hand over her mouth at the sound of her own voice.

Shippo burst into full blown laughter while Inuyasha looked up quickly, his own lips twitching suspiciously and eyes sparkling. She glared at them both while Miroku coughed into his hand, to hide his own amused smile, "Kagome-sama, are you absolutely certain you are feeling all right."

"Fine," she grumbled, refusing to meet their eyes stubbornly.

Sango glanced at Inuyasha's shaking shoulders and Miroku's averted face, feeling the errant laugh bubbling in her own throat at such an "Inuyasha" reaction out of Kagome. Clearing her throat to squelch the urge to join in their laughter, she knelt beside Inuyasha and leaned forward to watch as he gingerly peeled away the bandage.

Kagome looked down, wincing once when the dried blood stuck, but shaking her head at Inuyasha's questioning gaze, "It just burns...you're not hurting me."

Inuyasha frowned as he looked down at the healing wound and gently prodding it, "Burns how?"

"Tingling...really hot," she bit her lip nervously, yelping when she felt what was definitely a fang. "Dammit!"

Shippo hopped back to her shoulder, giving the "humans" a sly look before he leaned up to whisper in Kagome's ear, "I'm gonna tell Inuyasha."

"Don't you dare," she twisted to growl at him, her eyes narrowing.

He was giggling again when Inuyasha glanced up at them for a moment before turning his attention back to the lightly pulsing wound, "No offense, Kagome, but it's cute when you do that."

Kagome squeezed her eyes shut, silently counting to ten as she fought the urge to scream, "Cute?"

"Calm down," Inuyasha's hand on her face had her eyes flying open to look at him again. He had pressed his other palm lightly over her side, watching her face for any discomfort, but other than a light flinch, nothing. "Oi, maybe this wasn't such a bad thing after all," he gave her a small smirk and rubbed his thumb over her cheek.

Kagome blinked at him in surprise while Sango let out a relieved breath, "Then she is?"

"Is what?" Shippo peeked out from beneath her hair curiously.

"Healing," Miroku finished, glancing back at Kaede to get her nod of agreement.

"If Kagome has absorbed Inuyasha's youkai blood it would be safe to assume it's healing her," the old miko shook her head and let out a heavy sigh. "Inuyasha, I have never seen a spell with the ability to do something like this. Shippo says that your scents have reversed, not just that Kagome smells hanyou."

"Unless he's mistaken," Miroku pointed out, earning him an angry glare from the little kitsune.

"I know what I can smell!" Shippo yelled up at him, instantly regretting it when Kagome leaned her head away from him, ears flattening down against her skull.

"It suggests-" Kaede broke in calmly, "that the spell has somehow transferred Inuyasha's youkai blood into Kagome when it began to wane and took hers in return. That would account for why Kagome actually smells like Inuyasha to Shippo."

"This is so confusing," Sango shook her head, but she smiled at Kagome slightly at the thought of her wounds being healed so quickly.

"Try living it," Kagome leaned back to stare down at the throbbing injury. Her shoulder had already stopped burning, instead now settling into an ache and an annoying itching. "Okay, let me see if I'm understanding this," she lifted her hand to rub her forehead. "You THINK that because Shippo says I smell like Inuyasha that we've...swapped blood? Because of the moon?"

"Perhaps if the spell recognizes a human attached to a hanyou, and as Inuyasha is human for the new moon..." Kaede gestured at the two of them dismissively. "It seems that it 'balanced' by making an exchange."

"Hell, it's not permanent, is it?" Kagome stiffened at the thought, rearing up to her knees at that thought. "It just can't be permanent! Inuyasha shouldn't be human-"

Inuyasha leaned forward, sliding his arm around her shoulders and easing her back down before tucking her up against his side, "If it's just balancing, 'exchanging' to keep one of us a hanyou, it should go away in the morning, right? When I turn back?"

"Well...theoretically, yes," Kaede sighed wearily, rubbing a hand over her own brow. "On the other hand, Inuyasha, this is the most complex and unclear spell I have ever encountered. It may very well be that Kagome will be like this until the next new moon when the the blood wanes and again and looks for an outlet."

"We can't be like this for a month!" Kagome yelped out, beating Inuyasha to the retort, but just barely as she again shot forward in angry frustration. "What about my school? And Inuyasha hates being human! And- and-"

"Kagome-sama, you will probably change back to yourself in the morning," Miroku closed his hand over her shoulder and pushed her back gently before he sat down next to her and patted her fisted hand. "It's best not to get worked up over this unnecessarily. Especially given the circumstances..."

"Watch the fucking hands, you lech," Inuyasha gave the monk a baleful glare when he noticed the hand move suspiciously towards Kagome's backside.

"At least you aren't in pain any longer, right?" Sango offered, watching Kagome frown and lightly touch her rapidly healing side.

"I'd almost rather I was," she wiped a hand across her forehead and slumped back into Inuyasha with a sigh. "Is it always like this?" Kagome looked up at him miserably.

"Like what?" Inuyasha frowned, reaching up again to stroke one fuzzy ear just to watch it twitch. 'Maybe this is why she likes doing this so much,' he thought absently.

"It's so hot," she wrinkled her nose in distaste, lifting her shirt away from her skin. "And bright, and the smells, and it's loud! Mou, now I'm sorry for all the times I ever yelled at you..."

Inuyasha smirked down at her, "I'm used to it."

"Well it's giving ME a headache," she grouched, pouting even as she batted his hand away from her head. The last thing she needed was to embarrass herself in front of all of them by giving in to the soft rumble she could feel in her chest.

Shippo leaned up to pat her stomach the way she'd done for him that he liked so much, his eyes on the hole in her side as the muscles around it twitched, the wound slowly shrinking, "You're almost better, Kagome. That's good, right?"

She sighed and rubbed his head affectionately, "It'll be good if they stop tingling."

"That's normal," Inuyasha assured her.

Miroku sat back, cross-legged as he regarded the wholly unexpected, even unimaginable scene. Although he had to agree with Sango and Shippo, that if this would heal Kagome's wounds the way Inuyasha would it would be wonderful. However, there was one thing bothering him still....

"Kaede-sama, if Inuyasha's youkai blood went into Kagome-sama, does that mean that Inuyasha has taken on her miko powers?" he frowned at that thought, glancing from the old miko to Inuyasha and back.

Kagome felt his chest begin to rumble with laughter, his arms sliding off her as he grinned, "Kagome's miko powers, hn?"

She turned, eyes flashing angrily, "Don't you even fucking think it, Inuyasha."

His smile only grew wider as he reached up to finger the prayer beads around his neck, "I wonder..."

Kagome was on him in a heartbeat, her injuries forgotten with a surge of adrenaline as between one breath and the next, she had him on the ground. Straddling his chest and holding his wrist in one hand and his throat in the other, she growled down at him, "I warned you about that! If I'm fucking subdued then so are you!"

Shippo had scrambled away at her abrupt motion, hurrying to reposition himself and watch the fight from the safety of Miroku's lap, "Wow...this is a lot better than the 'sit' thing."

Sango and Miroku just blinked in amazement, while Kaede let out a sigh of long-suffering and rose to her feet, "Make them go outside if Kagome starts to break anything. Inuyasha is probably going to try and set her off himself like this."

Inuyasha was again smirking up at Kagome, his hand on her wrist, "I'm still a better fighter than you."

"What does that-hn?!" Kagome broke off when Inuyasha twisted and managed to flip her over his head, sending her flat on her back on the floor. Shocked, she could only stare up at the ceiling, wondering what exactly he'd just done.

"I-Inuyasha! Kagome-chan's wounds-!" Sango leapt to her feet.

"She's fine now," he shrugged, rising to his feet calmly and brushing his sleeves off with arrogant indifference filling his expression.. "I know how I heal."

When the exterminator started forward, Miroku caught her leg and shook his head at her questioning look, "Inuyasha, it's unfair of you to use that knowledge against Kagome-sama."

Inuyasha turned to frown at the monk, but the moment he did he was on his back again. "Ha!" Kagome hopped to her feet, smiling as she pressed her hand to her shoulder and then her side curiously. Inuyasha was right, the wounds ached slightly, itched like mad, yes, but they weren't causing her any pain.

Miroku's look changed to almost comical disbelief, "Kagome-sama, you are not helping me make my point."

Kagome wasn't paying attention, cocking her head to one side as she looked at her hands, "Wow, you really ARE strong."

"Kaede said outside!" Shippo yelled out the reminder when Inuyasha caught her in the stomach and hoisted her up over his shoulder.

Inuyasha glanced at the kit, shrugged, and calmly walked out of the hut with Kagome swearing at him under her breath. The moment they were outside, there was a distinct thump followed by Kagome's delighted laughter and finally Inuyasha snarling out, "Dammit, bitch, put me down! No wait, don't try that! Kagome-!"

When Inuyasha's faded off into the night, the three remaining exchanged glances with concern. The sat in a tense silence for a long moment before Shippo swore, glaring up at Miroku with his hands clenched into little fists in his lap.

"Just had to open your mouth didn't you?" Shippo growled at the monk accusingly.

"Houshi-sama, now they'll be fighting until morning!" Sango fisted her hands on her hips and frowned disapprovingly at him. "Kagome-chan doesn't know how to be a hanyou! What if she hurts herself even more? Or Inuyasha?"

"I was only curious," Miroku shrugged. "I felt it was a valid question with all things considered. I wasn't even thinking of the prayer beads."

Sango inched away from him when she caught the way his eyes had started to stray downward, "Don't try it or I'll flatten you. This is serious! What-"

"Give it until morning," he suggested calmly, folding his hands in his lap in an effort to avoid the temptation. "We can worry if Inuyasha doesn't change back to himself with the sunrise."

"If they don't accidentally kill each other first," Sango muttered in what had to be the driest tone Miroku had heard yet before turning to look nervously out into the night.


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