InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Heart's Wish ❯ An Explanation ( Chapter 4 )

Author: Red Falcon

 

red_falcon0001[at]yahoo.com

 

The Explanation:

 

“How dare he!” Inuyasha fumed out loud. “Who the fuck does he think he is?” Inuyasha kept running deeper into the forest not realizing he had come to Goshinboku. He paced around the clearing a few times before leaping up into the tree and slouching down to pout.

 

“What the hell would that monk know about youkai mates anyway,” he grumbled to himself as he crossed his arms. Technically, he was still a little too young for a mate. Inu-youkai mated for life and when life could be seven centuries or so and longer, there was no hurry.

 

`Damn,' he thought. Inuyasha could smell Kagome slowly working her way to his tree. She was taking her time, but he wasn't sure he could face her yet. After two and a half years the reticent hanyou had opened up to her somewhat, but even he still had his limits. This was a sensitive subject. If she didn't like what he would propose, he could be broken forever.

 

Kagome entered the clearing and looked up at Inuyasha's closed off expression. She sighed and sat down at the bottom of Goshinboku and had every intention of waiting till he was ready to talk. He sighed and leapt down from his perch. He quickly scooped her up into his arms and shot back into the tree.

 

Kagome smothered a squeak as Inuyasha settled her in his lap and leaned back against the tree. She lay back against his chest and waited till he would speak to her. Just when it seemed like he wouldn't say anything, Inuyasha broke the silence.

 

“I hate that damn monk sometimes! He's always sticking his nose where it don't belong,” Inuyasha fumed. Kagome could feel the tension radiating off the hanyou.

 

“What did he say that was so bad? Other than the innuendo, that is,” Kagome asked. She reached back over her shoulder and began to rub one of his ears. He jerked at first before submitting to her ministrations.

 

“That's just it, wench. He made a crack about my mate, or lack there of,” Inuyasha grumbled. He tilted his head down and rested it against her shoulder so she could reach his entire ear.

 

“Your mate, huh? What exactly does that mean?” Kagome questioned. The young miko felt him tense up and then relax as she continued to work on his ear. Inuyasha leaned down further into her hand and rested his face on her neck.

 

“Do you really want to know?” Inuyasha's voice was so soft that if his mouth wasn't so close to her ear, she wouldn't have heard him speak.

 

“Yes,” she breathed softly when she felt his lips move.

 

“You know I'm inu, right?” When she nodded, he continued with, “You also might know that we mate for life”

 

“I sort of know about that,” Kagome admitted, her heartbeat quickened.

 

“Like dogs, inu-youkai are pack animals. It's just instinctive,” Inuyasha sighed leaning back away from her shoulder.

 

“What? Did I hurt you?” Kagome asked pulling her hand back and turning to look at him. When she saw that his eyes were closed she stopped.

 

“It's just that this is where things get sticky,” Inuyasha said as he opened his eyes and looked up at the clear sky. He looked back down at the girl in his arms and caught Kagome's gaze with his own.

 

“How?” Kagome whispered.

 

“An inu pack generally has a mated alpha pair. Inu packs form the same way our group did during the hunt for Naraku. In our group, the lead pair is me and you,” Inuyasha finished still looking in her eyes.

 

“What does that mean?” Kagome asked even thought she already knew.

 

“It means,” Inuyasha started, his eyes darkening, “that my blood sees you as my mate.”

 

Kagome gasped.

 

~<>~

 

“You know that wasn't really necessary, houshi-sama,” Sango scolded her fiancée.

 

“Oh, Sango of my heart, yes it was,” Miroku smiled as his love blushed at the endearment.

 

“Inuyasha would have loved nothing more that to cause you serious bodily harm after what you said,” Sango shuddered slightly at the image of the hanyou's enraged face.

 

Miroku pulled his wife-to-be into a small opening between two village huts. He then pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on the top of her head. Miroku thanked whatever deity that saw fit to bless him when Sango responded by hugging him back and relaxing against him.

 

“Ah, my dearest. You know that he would have tried to make a crater with my body until Kagome subdued him,” Miroku said into her hair. “Don't worry my beloved. Maybe she'll be curious enough to ask him what it meant.”

 

“I hope so, houshi-sama,” Sago said doubtfully.

 

“You could say my name since we'll be married next week,” Miroku suggested leaning down to her lips.

 

“All right, Miroku,” she said as he captured her lips with his own.

 

~<>~

 

“What do you mean, mate?” Kagome asked turning further on the branch to look at Inuyasha.

 

“To a youkai, it is a life-partner,” the hanyou said remembering when it had been explained to him.

 

At the final battle two and a half years before, Sesshoumaru stopped long enough to pass on some brotherly advice. He told Inuyasha to claim his mate or he would loose her. That was all the taiyoukai said before leaving. Inuyasha came back to the present and watched his earlier words sink in. The miko in his lap blinked at him.

 

“It is an equivalent marriage, only deeper and much longer. You don't have to do anything, Kagome,” he said as Kagome blinked at him again.

 

“What? Not do what,” Kagome repeated, confused.

 

“I mean is doesn't have to mean anything to you because you haven't been claimed,” Inuyasha said, eyes downcast.

 

“Inuyasha, can I ask you something?” When he nodded, she asked, “Do you want me?”

 

“Kagome?” Inuyasha looked up sharply. His eyes softened as he saw the uncertainty in her eyes. “Kagome,” he began again, softer as he looked down, “if I didn't want you, my blood wouldn't see you as my mate.”

 

Tears welled up in Kagome's eyes when Inuyasha looked back up at her. All of his masks were finally down. She could see all the emotions that he'd hidden from her, which everyone else tried to tell her about. The amber of his eyes deepened into a rich burnished gold as he lowered his lips to brush hers.

 

“Kagome,” he paused his movement.

 

“Yes?” Kagome's voice hitched in her throat.

 

“Will you have me?”

 

Kagome paused as the tears finally overflowed. She smiled.

 

“Yes! Oh, yes!”

 

Inuyasha finished his earlier movement and kissed his mate.

 

~<>~

 

AN: Second revision of the day. I just might get everything done tonight! Actually, I will. I don't have to go to work tonight. Then I'll let everything sit for awhile and do this all over again.

 

-Red