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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