InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Home for Kagome ❯ Morning ( Chapter 10 )

DISCLAIMER: Rumiko Takahashi, now and forever, owns 'Inuyasha' and all characters involved. I, now and forever, own nothing but my own twisted plot and any original characters I might add. Hope this settles any confusion. Please don't sue me, I'm broke.

 

Chapter now updated, thanks to my wonderful beta, Chanda.

 

Chapter 10 - Morning

 

Usually, Inuyasha made it a point while travelling to rouse all of his friends at the crack of dawn; so they could get moving again. The only times Miroku could remember this not happening was when one of them was injured enough that Inuyasha felt they needed their rest. Fortunately, no one in their group had sustained any serious injuries during the final battle with Naraku. So Miroku was surprised when he awoke on his own the next morning, and the light shinning in from the window made it clear that it was daytime and had been for a while. However, he decided that Inuyasha must just be in a good mood in the knowledge that Naraku was finally dead, and he felt generous enough to let them sleep in for once. Either way, Miroku figured it was time to get up and went to see if the others were up yet.

 

Sango's was the first room he came to. For a moment, he considered just opening the door without knocking, thinking he might be lucky enough to catch her getting dressed. He quickly dismissed that idea though, for three reasons. The first being that he didn't feel like getting hit first thing that morning. The second was that Sango would hopefully soon be his wife and he would be able to see her naked on a regular basis. The last and most important reason, was that he couldn't hear any of the sounds that would have pointed towards his beloved getting dressed anyway.

 

Miroku's knock on the Shoji was answered by Sango's sleepy voice telling him to come in. Doing so, Miroku was a little surprised to see that Sango was still lying on the futon, clearly just having woken up. Other than Inuyasha, Sango was usually the first one to rise in the morning. However, when he saw that Shippo was still asleep next to her head, he thought he had a better understanding. Shippo could be a serious headache come bedtime; Kagome was usually the only one who could get him to settle down.

 

“Miroku…?” Sango asked hazily, as she sat up and took notice of the amount of light in the room. “What time is it?”

 

“Two or three hours after sunrise, I'm guessing.” Miroku answered. “For some reason, Inuyasha didn't feel the need to wake us this morning. I have not seen him or Kagome yet.”

 

“Oh.” Sango said, through another yawn, as she started nudging Shippo to wake him up. “Well we can't just lie around all day; we've got start heading home. Can you go see if Kagome and Inuyasha are up while I wake up Shippo?”

 

Miroku nodded the affirmative, before heading down the hall. Kagome's room was right next to Sango's. He knocked gently, and waited for the Miko to answer. When none was forthcoming, he knocked again, harder. Still hearing nothing, he opened the Shoji and looked inside, only to find the room empty. Becoming a little concerned, Miroku nevertheless told himself not to panic, if anything was going to happen to Kagome during the night, surely Inuyasha would have sensed something and stepped in to stop it. With that thought in mind, Miroku continued to the Hanyou's door, with the intention of asking his friend if he knew where Kagome was.

 

When Miroku stopped just outside Inuyasha's doorway, he was relieved to hear the sound of his friends' voices coming from inside, although he was unable to make out their actual words. Here was the answer to his question then, Kagome must have obviously woken up earlier than him, Sango and Shippo, and had gone to talk to Inuyasha. This might also explain why Inuyasha had left the rest of them sleep in; Kagome could have bullied him into it.

 

Mystery solved in Miroku's mind, the monk opened the door without knocking. The sight that met him instantly threw all his ideas out the window.

 

###

 

When Inuyasha awoke, the first thing he noticed was the warm, soft body pressing against his own. The second thing was the wonderful smell that filled the air.

 

Opening his eyes, Inuyasha was greeted by a sight right out of his fantasies. There was his beautiful Kagome, her head resting on his chest, peacefully sleeping with a smile on her face. The sun had obviously been up for a while judging by the amount of light in the room, and this surprised the Hanyou who rarely overslept. However, for once he wasn't bothered by this fact, as the increased light only made his love look that much more heavenly.

 

Inuyasha remember all too well the events of last night, and his resulting smile nearly split his face in two. He had a Mate, and not just any Mate. A strong, beautiful, perfect woman whom he loved with his entire heart and soul, and who loved him back. He could barely believe it! Part of him still thought it was but a beautiful dream, in which he would wake up at any moment, hated and alone once more. However, the feel of her body against his, her scent permeating the air, the warmth of the sun on his bare skin, all these things and more said to him: this is no dream.

 

Gently, almost as if she would disappear if he wasn't careful, Inuyasha reached up to brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear with his left hand. In doing so, Inuyasha noticed something on his arm. Smiling, knowing what it was he saw, Inuyasha brought his arm up to get a better look at it. His smile deepened when he saw what he had already known he would. There on the inside of his lower arm, just above the wrist, was his new mating mark. It looked something like those `tattoo' things they had in his mate's time. Kagome's name was permanently branded on his arm in blood-red kanji, along with the words: Beloved Protector. Inuyasha couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at seeing these words. Was that how Kagome saw him? It must be, a Mating Mark always showed a mate's feelings on their deepest level. He was curious about what mark he'd left on Kagome. However, the arm where her mark resided was currently out of sight, and he was unwilling to wake her just yet.

 

Inuyasha wasn't sure how long he lay there; just watching his new mate while she slept. All he knew was that he'd never been this happy in his entire life. After a while though, he noticed that his mate was starting to stir.

 

“Hmmm…” Kagome muttered, raising her head slightly, looking around in confusion, until she met Inuyasha's gaze with her own. The Hanyou could tell the exact moment she remembered what had transpired between the two of them last night by her scent alone. It changed from sleepily confused, to surprised, then to embarrassed, aroused, and finally deliriously happy, all in a matter of seconds.

 

With a huge grin on her face, Kagome shifted just enough so that she could give Inuyasha a quick kiss. “Good morning, Mate,” she said joyously.

 

“Good morning to you too, Mate.” Inuyasha said, smiling back at her. If he had had any doubts that she might be upset over last night, they were dispelled by the expression on her face, and the pure joy and contentment in her scent. “Did you sleep well?”

 

“Yeah, I did,” she said, snuggling back into his side. “In fact, I don't think I've ever slept better. It's rather late, isn't it?” she added, apparently just noticing how bright the room was.

 

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Inuyasha said non-committedly, making no move to get up. “Not that it matters, we don't have anywhere else to be right now.”

 

“The others are probably wondering where we are.” Kagome said. Her voice sounded a little concerned, but her body was saying different. She was completely relaxed, as rubbed her hand up and down her Mate's chest.

 

“Keh!” Inuyasha said, unconcerned. “Let them wonder. Their probably still sleeping anyway… or at least Sango probably is. You left the runt with her last night, didn't you?”

 

“What does that mean?” Kagome asked confused.

 

“That he probably kept her up half the night.” Inuyasha said with a grin. “He can be a real nightmare to get into bed.”

 

Kagome frowned. “I've never had any trouble getting him to go to bed!”

 

“Well, sure, with you he's fine; you're like his mother after all!” Inuyasha said, still grinning. “With anyone else, he'll whine and complain for hours. Why do you think Miroku, Sango and Kaede were always so happy to see you when you came back from your time?”

 

Kagome pouted. “I'd hoped they'd missed me!”

 

“I'm sure they did,” Inuyasha said reassuringly. “It's just that, they also missed getting a good night's sleep. You're the only one Shippo will listen to, come bed-time.”

 

Kagome huffed again, though she was still somewhat miffed by Inuyasha's story. It was then when she realised, there was something he'd left out.

 

“I noticed you didn't mention why you were happy to see me come back.” She said, somewhat slyly.

 

“Keh! I'm happy because whenever you're gone, I feel like I can't breathe, like a piece of my soul is missing.” Inuyasha said instantly, without a hint of embarrassment. The days when he would deny his feeling for her were long past, or at least they were while they were in private. “I thought you'd have realised that by now!” He added, as he hugged her tightly.

 

“I do.” Kagome said cheerfully. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”

 

Inuyasha just smiled at her, before he remembered something. “Kagome, can I see your left arm?”

 

Kagome looked up at him, confused by his sudden question. Nevertheless, she sat up slightly and held out her arm for his inspection. Her eyes following his, her eyebrows went up as she saw her Mark for the first time.

 

Gently running his fingers over her Mark in something like wonder, he began to read the blood-red words by his name aloud; “Beautiful Saviour.” He said softly, thinking that it described her perfectly. Kagome was clearly beautiful after all, both inside and out. As for `saviour' not only had she freed him from Kikyo's seal, she'd saved him from a lifetime (and in his case a very long lifetime) of loneliness and hatred.

 

“Inuyasha?” Kagome asked, bewildered. “What does this mean?”

 

Inuyasha blushed slightly, realising he'd forgotten to tell Kagome about the Mating Marks last night. “It's my Mark on you Kagome. My Mating Mark, it lets other demons know that you're mine. It expresses my feelings for you on the deepest level.”

 

Kagome took another, closer look at her mark. She found herself smiling again, as she took in the words, realising yet again just how much Inuyasha truly loved her. “Did I leave a Mark on you too?” Kagome enquired.

 

Inuyasha didn't answer in words, instead choosing to simply smile and then he held his arm out, for her inspection. As she looked at it, she like him thought it described him perfectly. She was about to tell him so, when the door to their room opened suddenly without warning.

 

Inuyasha and Kagome jumped slightly in shock, both of them being so caught up in each other, that they'd failed to realise Miroku was on the other side of the door. Kagome squeaked in embarrassment, as she unconsciously clutched Inuyasha's haori tightly to her chest. Her face looked like a tomato from pure mortification that anyone was seeing them this way; let alone the perverted monk! As for Inuyasha, he was torn between joining his mate and trying to hide in embarrassment; and jumping up and killing the dumb monk for barging in on them.

 

For once, words escaped the monk. While Miroku knew full well that Inuyasha and Kagome were promised to one day become Mates, he hadn't expected it would come so soon. He was frankly gob-smacked, and was torn between being happy for his friends and being consumed with jealousy that Inuyasha had gotten laid before him.

 

“Monk, ever hear of knocking?” Inuyasha growled from his place on the futon. He had so far been able to retrain from getting up and pounding his friend, simply because he knew that doing so while still naked would only embarrass Kagome even more.

 

“Ah, well, that is…” Miroku stuttered incoherently. Before he could untie his tongue, another voice was heard behind him.

 

“Hey, Miroku, what's wrong?” Sango asked, as she walked over to stand next to her fiancé. She had exited her room just a few moments ago, with a still sleepy Shippo perched on her shoulder. The first thing she had noticed, was Miroku staring into Inuyasha's room with a look on his face she'd never seen before; like shock, disbelief, happiness, and concern all at once. As soon as she reached his side and looked in as well though, her expression quickly changed to mirror his. Shippo simply looked confused, too young and too tired to figure out what was going on yet.

 

“Do you people mind?!” Inuyasha demanded, as Kagome buried her face in his shoulder in pure embarrassment. The thought of pounding his so-called-friends into the ground was quickly becoming more and more appealing. “What's a guy got to do to get some privacy?”

 

“Err, sorry.” Sango shuttered quickly when she realised they were staring. She quickly grabbed the door pulling it shut, just as she became aware of footsteps coming from the other end of the hall. Feeling embarrassed over what she had just seen (though thankfully the haori had stopped her from seeing too much), she couldn't help but blush right down to her toes, as she turned to face the innkeeper. Miroku was still in something like shock, while Shippo's tired little brain tried to figure out what was going on.

 

The innkeeper was confused as to Sango's deep blush and Miroku's obvious shock, but to his credit he didn't let it show.

 

“Good morning.” He said calmly. “I was just coming to see you and your companions. Breakfast is served in the main dinning room if you wish some.”

 

“Thank you good innkeeper, we'll be along in a minute.” Sango said, trying to get her blush under control. However, she found herself blushing even more, when Miroku apparently shook off his shock, calling out to Inuyasha through the closed door.

 

“Did you two hear that, Inuyasha?”

 

“Yeah, yeah we heard.” Inuyasha grumbled. “We'll be down in a little while.”

 

This time, the innkeeper couldn't contain his surprise that the Hanyou and the young Miko had apparently shared a room last night (the old man wasn't dense), and his eyebrows almost disappeared into his grey trended hair. However, he quickly got over it, deciding they were adults and they were responsible for saving his village, and that it was no business of his what they did. He didn't want to offend them or cause any trouble.

 

###

 

Back in Inuyasha's (and Kagome's) room, Kagome thought she would never stop blushing. She couldn't believe that not only Miroku, but also Sango and Shippo had seen her and Inuyasha like this. Fuck! Even the innkeeper had probably guessed it by now.

 

“This is a nightmare.” Kagome muttered, while her face was still buried in Inuyasha's chest.

 

“Kagome?” Inuyasha asked, worried. “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah, it's just; I can't believe they all saw us like this!” Kagome said. “I mean, sure I wanted to tell them, but not like this!”

 

“I know what you mean.” Inuyasha said with a groan. “But come on, let's get dressed. We need to face them sooner or later, and if we don't hurry Shippo will eat all the good stuff!”

 

Kagome mumbled something about how she would rather it be later, but she did still get up. Wrapping herself in Inuyasha's haori, she told him that her clothes were still in her room, and that she needed to go there to get changed. A few minutes later, Kagome immerged from her room dressed in jeans and a long sleaved top. Passing the haori back to Inuyasha, the two new mates headed off towards their doom… err, the dinning room. (Sorry about the dumb joke, couldn't resist)

 

###

 

Down in the dinning room, Miroku and Sango had hardly eaten a thing, their minds too preoccupied. Even Shippo was barely picking at his food, having by this stage woken up enough to have figured out pretty much what had happened between Inuyasha and Kagome.

 

It wasn't that any of them were upset that Inuyasha and Kagome were finally together. How could they be, when they'd all been hoping for this outcome for over two years now! No, they weren't upset, but they were a little concerned. They couldn't help but worry about Kagome, worry that maybe she was pushing herself too far too fast. And while they didn't think Inuyasha would do anything to take advantage of Kagome while she was vulnerable, especially after they'd seen how carefully he had been looking after her over for the last six plus months, they knew none of them would feel completely at ease until they knew for sure.

 

After what seemed like an eternity, Inuyasha and Kagome finally entered the dinning room. Sitting down without meeting anyone's eyes; they started eat their own food with slightly more enthusiasm, but not much. It was clear they were still embarrassed at the intrusion earlier, not that anyone could blame them.

 

However, one thing that Sango in peculiar noticed was that despite her obvious embarrassment, Kagome seemed happier than they had seen in her months. This, the others decided, was a good sign. Still, they wouldn't be completely satisfied until they were able to talk to them both.

 

Without saying a word to each other, Miroku and Sango had managed to come to the unspoken agreement that Sango would talk to Kagome while Miroku would tackle Inuyasha. They figured they would be more willing to talk that way. Or at least Kagome would. Knowing Inuyasha he would likely shut down regardless of whether they were alone or not, so it didn't really matter either way.

 

As the group finished their rather uncomfortable breakfast, Sango decided it was time to initiate her plan to get Kagome by herself. To do so, she used her good old, never-fail method, of asking her if she wanted to go take a bath before they set out for the day. While the others had been waiting for the new couple to come downstairs, Sango had been certain to ask if there was a bathhouse nearby. It turned out that there was one just slightly out of town that was fed by a hot spring and that the girls would be welcome to use it.

 

Kagome knew instantly what was coming, but she figured that she couldn't avoid having the talk with Sango forever; it was better to just get it over with. Besides, a bath did sound like a good idea, as she felt rather sticky after last night. So with a quick nod to the affirmative Kagome, got up and headed back to her room to get her and Sango's bathing supplies. Kagome paused, only to give a rather surprised Inuyasha a quick kiss.

 

As Inuyasha watched his mate disappear through the doorway with Sango, he finally realised something. Now that girls were gone, he was stuck here alone and totally at the mercy of a perverted monk, and Kagome's over-emotional foster-son.

 

For the first time in living memory, Inuyasha found himself fighting the urge to gulp.

 

 

Author's Notes:

 

I would just like to take a moment here to say; Yay! My story has now been viewed over 5000 times. I honestly didn't expect this story to be anywhere near this popular, and I'm so touched that people apparently like so much.