InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ All Things Come Full Circle ❯ Chapter 14 ( Chapter 14 )

Chapter 14

The day went by very slowly for Inuyasha. Not only was he bored out of his mind, but he also had to put up with Kouga hanging around watching Inukigo. They had woken her up again to change her bandages, and Inuyasha had taken great delight in kicking the wolf demon out of the hut, but unfortunately that had pretty much been his only entertainment.

Around noon, Miroku, Sango, Shippou, and Kirara arrived for their lunch, and were surprised to see Kouga sitting at Inukigo’s side. They dealt with his presence far better than Inuyasha did, Miroku and Sango striking up conversation while Shippou and Kirara ignored him completely.

Shippou had once again become stuck to Inukigo like glue, hovering over her and making sure she was comfortable, asking if she needed anything, and keeping her entertained when she didn’t feel like conversing with the rest of the group. Shortly after lunch, which Inukigo had none of because her stomach still wasn’t healed enough, she fell asleep once again, her body being worn out from the massive amount of healing it was undertaking. Shippou and Kirara curled up with her and went to sleep as well.

And this was the scene in the hut, even now. Inukigo, Shippou, and Kirara sleeping by the far wall, Miroku, Sango, and Kouga talking amongst themselves, Kaede in the corner preparing medicines, and Inuyasha sitting by the door stubbornly ignoring the lot of them but bored out of his freakin’ mind.

As it was nearing evening, Inuyasha grew restless. It was getting close to the time that Kagome came home from school, and he wanted to be there when she returned. His dilemma, however, was that he wasn’t sure if he liked the idea of leaving Kouga here with his sister while he was away.

Inukigo was now awake, as were Shippou and Kirara, and she was now talking with Kouga. Everyone else was still in the hut, so Inuyasha thought that it should be okay to leave while the wolf was still there. Standing up, he stretched then called out to the rest of the huts occupants.

“Ooi, I’m gonna go and check up on Kagome. I’ll be back later,” then he fixed his eyes on Kouga, “You had better not cause any trouble while I’m gone, wimpy wolf.”

Kouga glared at Inuyasha and growled, but said nothing and turned back to continue talking with Inukigo. Inuyasha was surprised that Kouga hadn’t said something back, but didn’t dwell on it and left the hut. He took off in a sprint towards the well and wasted no time in jumping into it’s depths. The magic took hold of him immediately, and in a few moments he was standing at the bottom of the well in Kagome’s time. He was out in one leap, and made for the door of the well house. Taking a tentative sniff from the shrine courtyard, he determined that neither Kagome or her brother were presently at home, her grandfather was somewhere outside on the other side of the shrine, and Mrs. Higurashi was somewhere in the house. Since he wasn’t in any hurry, and there was no one else on the shrine grounds, Inuyasha took his time walking to the house.

He found Mrs. Higurashi in the living room, sitting at the low table while watching television and drinking a cup of tea. Having heard him open and close the sliding door, she wasn’t surprised by his appearance and smiled at him warmly.

“Konnichiwa, Inuyasha. I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.”

Inuyasha shrugged and walked over to join her at the table.

“It got boring over there, so I decided to come here and wait for Kagome.”

“I see,” Mrs. Higurashi replied, taking a sip of her tea, “How is your sister? Is she recovering well?”

Inuyasha nodded.

“Yeah, she’s doing okay. She isn’t fully healed yet, but she probably will be in a few more days,” then a frown crossed his face, “She has a visitor right now,” he practically hissed the word out.

“Visitor?” Mrs. Higurashi asked, “Who might that be?”

Inuyasha refrained from growling, remembering that it was Kagome’s mother that he was talking to.

“A wolf demon, named Kouga.”

“Ahh, I remember Kagome mentioning him before.”

“She has?” Inuyasha asked, not sure if he liked that fact.

“Yes,” Mrs. Higurashi replied, “She said that there was a young man named Kouga, who thought that he was in love with her, and that every time your group would run in to him, he would make you very jealous.”

Inuyasha blushed and sputtered.

“K-Keh! As if! I was never jealous of that stupid wolf,” he said, crossing his arms across his chest and turning up his nose.

“Inuyasha…” Mrs. Higurashi chided.

Inuyasha glanced over at her from the corners of his eyes, to see her smiling at him in amusement. He looked away again, though not denying anything this time.

“You know, before we were married, Kagome’s father used to get very jealous whenever men would pay attention to me.”

Inuyasha’s ears perked and he turned to face her, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“Really?”

“Mm hmm,” she replied, sipping on her tea, “One day we had a big fight because a man that I knew was flirting with me. Kagome’s father saw it, and accused me of flirting with him as well.”

Inuyasha’s eyes widened. This sounded very much like their past situations with Kouga.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Well…” she said, a smile on her face, “We apologized to each other, made up, and he asked me to marry him.”

Inuyasha nodded in acknowledgement before speaking again.

“Kouga doesn’t want Kagome anymore,” he explained, “Now he’s taken interest in Inukigo.”

“I see,” Mrs. Higurashi, “Does this bother you?”

Inuyasha’s brows furrowed as he tried to explain.

“Kind of,” he admitted, “It makes her happy that Kouga wants to court her, so I won’t deny her that, but I just don’t trust him. Wolf demons…are a little different from dog demons when it comes to courting.”

“What do you mean?”

Inuyasha looked at Kagome’s mother more fully, though he was slightly embarrassed, having this conversation with her.

“Well…while wolf demons will take a life mate like dog demons, and stay with that mate until one of them dies, they aren’t…monogamous before that. It’s common for wolf demons to have…rutting partners…if they feel the need for them.”

Inuyasha was worried about how Kagome’s mother would respond to having a conversation like this with him, but she took it all in stride.

“You’re worried that he may be using her?”

Inuyasha ears perked in surprise from how quickly she had figured it out.

“Yeah,” he replied, nodding, “Kouga doesn’t really seem like someone who would do that, but none of us really know anything about him when it comes to that, so we can’t say for sure.”

Mrs. Higurashi nodded in understanding, her face thoughtful.

“Does Inukigo know of your concerns?”

“She does,” he confirmed, “She says that she can take care of herself, and I know that she can, but I don’t want her to be hurt that way if it turns out that Kouga is using her.”

“I hope that he isn’t, for Inukigo’s sake.”

Inuyasha grunted in response. As much as he didn’t like Kouga, he would not interfere. Inukigo liked him, and she was happy that he was interested in her. He could only hope that Inukigo wouldn’t end up being hurt in the end.

“Tadaima!”

Inuyasha and Mrs. Higurashi turned toward where the voice had originated from. Mrs. Higurashi smiled and called back.

“Okaeri! We’re in the living room, Kagome!”

“We? Who else is here? Oh! Inuyasha,” Kagome beamed as she entered the living room. She dropped her back pack on the floor and gave him a quick peck on the cheek as she knelt beside him. Now used to the little displays of affection, he didn’t grow embarrassed, even though her mother was sitting just across from them on the other side of the small table. The older woman just smiled before standing up and excusing herself from the room, saying something about getting started with dinner.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, “You didn’t stay here all day by yourself, did you?”

“Iie,” he replied, shaking his head, “I left right after you did. I only came back a little while ago to see if you were home.”

“Oh. How’s Inukigo-chan doing?” she asked.

“Better. She’s sleeping a lot because all the healing her body is doing is wearing her out. She should be completely healed in a few days.”

“That’s good,” she then noticed the frown on his face, “Inuyasha, is something wrong?”

Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably.

“Kouga’s there,” he grumbled.

“He is? Really?”

Inuyasha just nodded.

“Aww, that’s so cute. He came to see her,” Kagome giggled.

“Keh. He came because he found the field where she fought with Sesshoumaru.”

Kagome’s smile immediately vanished.

“He knows about the fight then?” Inuyasha nodded, “He must have been so worried.”

“Yeah, he was,” Inuyasha replied, leaving out how Kouga had blamed him for Inukigo’s injuries. She already knew how guilty he felt about letting it happen.

“He seems to really care about her,” Kagome said, almost to herself.

“Yeah, seems to,” Inuyasha answered, offhandedly.

Kagome frowned at him.

“You still don’t believe that’s he’s sincere, do you?”

“I never said that,” he replied defensively.

“You didn’t have to,” Kagome shot back, then sighed, “Is it so hard for you to believe that he really could like Inukigo-chan that way?”

“It’s not like that and you know it,” he almost growled.

Kagome sent him a look that said he wasn’t proving himself and he sighed heavily.

“Kagome, I’ve explained to you how wolf demons go about courting. If Kouga only wants her for a rutting partner-”

“Inukigo-chan would never agree to be just that for him,” Kagome pointed out, cutting him off.

“I know that she wouldn’t,” he replied, growing irritated, “But she likes him, and if that’s all he wants her for, it will hurt her. I don’t want her to be hurt that way.”

Kagome backed off, having seen the point he was trying to make and nodded.

“Okay, I get what you’re saying. But you should still put a little more faith in Kouga. He’s not such a bad guy you know.”

Inuyasha huffed but didn’t say anything in return.

“You know…you should trust Kouga a little more, Inuyasha.”

Inuyasha scoffed and nearly laughed out loud at her suggestion.

“No, I don’t think I will. If you don’t mind, can we stop talking about that stupid wolf?”

Kagome sighed and shook her head. Fighting with him over this was a lost cause and she should have known that from the beginning. There was no use in wasting her breath on it any longer, so she decided to change the subject.

“Have there been any rumours of Naraku or Shikon shards going around?”

Inuyasha frowned and nodded.

“There are a few about shards going around, which points to Naraku, but nothing about Naraku himself. It’s like he disappeared again, just like before. We won’t be going anywhere for a few days though, not until Inukigo’s fully recovered.”

Kagome nodded, then smirked as an idea came to mind.

“Does that mean I can stay here in my time for a few extra days?”

Inuyasha was taken aback by her question, and though he wanted her to come back to his time with him, there wasn’t really much she could do there right now. Therefore, he didn’t have much of an argument to get her to go.

“If you want. There won’t really be anything to do until we can travel again.”

Kagome smiled, having seen the look on his face.

“I’m kidding Inuyasha. I want to go to school tomorrow, but then it’s the weekend, so I’ll go back to the feudal era with you. But I want to come back here again before we leave, so I can stock up on supplies.”

Inuyasha perked up and nodded his head.

“Okay.”

Kagome smiled then shifted closer so that she was leaning against him. Inuyasha’s hand rested gently on her waist as he leaned his head against hers, nuzzling her hair.

“How was school?” he asked quietly.

“Not too bad,” she replied, relaxing against him, “I have a lot of assignments and a few tests to make up for though, and the teachers are giving me a lot of stuff in advance. They don’t know when I’ll be back again, so they’re piling it all on me at once,” she said with a sigh.

“Sounds like you’ll have a lot of work to do,” he commented, inwardly unhappy that she would be so busy with school work, but not saying anything because he had given up complaining about it.

“Yeah, but it’s okay. I’ll try to get as much done as I can while we wait for Inukigo-chan to heal. That way I won’t have to take so much with me while we travel. The hard part will be when I start studying for final exams, but then school will be over and I’ve done well enough that I won’t have to take any classes over the summer. Then I’ll have a few months to spend in the feudal era without having to worry about things here, before school starts up again in the fall.”

“Hmm…I’ll be looking forward to that,” he said, pausing before he continued talking, “I hope Naraku will be defeated by then.”

Kagome looked up at him curiously.

“Why do you say that?”

Inuyasha chuckled and grinned at her slyly.

“Because, woman,” he replied, leaning in close to her ear and whispering hoarsely, “I want to make you my mate.”

Kagome’s reaction was one of the funniest things he had even seen. She shivered and blushed simultaneously from his breath on her ear and his words, then started stuttering uncontrollably. He was hard pressed not to laugh at her obvious embarrassment.

“Inuyasha,” she breathed, once she got herself mostly under control, “Do you have to talk about that here? Where my mother, jii-chan, or Souta could hear you?”

“What difference does it make?” he asked, “They know that you and I are to be mates, and I’m not going to deny that I want to make you my mate,” he then grinned at her again, “Besides, it’s getting harder and harder to remember to wait.”

“Inuyasha!” she hissed as the colour flooded her face once again, “Since when did you get so bold?! You’re turning into a pervert!”

Inuyasha snickered at her expense.

“And to think, we haven’t even mated yet,” he pulled her closer, nuzzling the skin behind her ear with his nose, “I wonder how bold I’ll be once we do.”

Kagome groaned and hid her face.

“Oh Kami, I’m doomed.”

Inuyasha enjoyed laughing at her discomfort, but inside he was just as nervous or even more so than she was. While he was fairly comfortable with the present level of their relationship, he was rather anxious about what would happen when they did become mates. He knew that his instincts would guide him through the motions when the time came, but his fear was that his instincts would have him doing something that Kagome wouldn’t like, or worse, that would hurt her. These thoughts were often on his mind, but he pushed them aside, resolving himself to focus on the present and worry about the future when the time came to take her as his mate.

After taking a few moments to regain her dignity, Kagome sighed and looked up at him.

“Are you going to stay for dinner?”

Inuyasha looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll stay, but I’m gonna check on Inukigo right after, then come back here for the night. That wolf had better not be causing trouble.”

Kagome laughed.

“I’m sure everything is fine over there. There are plenty of people there to keep Kouga in line.”

“Keh!” Inuyasha replied, knowing that she was humouring him.

Kagome hid her grin behind her hand, knowing that it would probably shape up to be a very entertaining evening.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~

“Kouga, will you stop fussing! I’m fine!”

“No you’re not! Stop thinking that you can hide it from me. I know that you’re still injured and I can tell that you’re tired, so will you just stop fighting already?!”

“You’re treating me like a child! Despite what you might think, I can walk!”

“You’re hurt and tired! You shouldn’t have to!”

“I want to! Back off, dumbass!”

“Well I want to help you, baka onna!”

Sango, Miroku, and Shippou watched cautiously as the demon and hanyou bickered outside of Keade’s hut.

“Those two are a lot like Kagome and Inuyasha when they fight, aren’t they?” Shippou commented.

“I have to agree with you Shippou. The resemblance is actually quite frightening,” Miroku replied.

Sango just nodded in agreement as the three companions watched Kouga trying to help Inukigo, who was obviously exhausted, back to Kade’s hut. A few moments ago, Inukigo had expressed that she needed to relieve herself. She had said that she was perfectly capable of going on her own, buy Kouga had protested and decided that he would escort her. Inukigo had flamed red with embarrassment and flat out refused his offer, saying that if he really felt that someone should go with her, she would rather it be Sango. Kouga would have none of it, and in the end Inukigo agreed with him, lest she have an accident in the hut. It seemed that Kouga had wanted to carry her, but Inukigo wouldn’t let him, thus they had argued the whole way there, and were now arguing the whole way back.

“Ha! See, woman? I told you that you were too tired,” Kouga admonished.

“Grrr…Shut up.”

It seemed as though Kouga had gotten the last laugh, because Inukigo’s legs had given out and she was sitting in the middle of the path, still quite a distance from Kaede’s hut.

Kouga sighed and settled into a crouch to manoeuvre Inukigo so he could lift her into his arms. She no longer fought him, just crossed her arms and looked away with a stubborn expression on her face. Once he was standing he tried to get her to look at him, but she wouldn’t comply, causing Kouga to sigh again and begin walking towards the hut.

“Why couldn’t you just let me carry you from the start?” he asked quietly, too low for their audience near the door of the hut to hear.

Inukigo gave him no reply, just kept looking away with her arms crossed stubbornly.

Kouga looked at her sadly.

“Why can’t you just let me help you?” he then lowered his voice further, grumbling to himself, “I have so few opportunities to prove myself to you, and when I do find one you won’t even let me.”

That caught Inukigo’s attention and she turned her head to face him. It had never occurred to her that that was his reasoning behind wanting to help her. He had wanted to prove himself as a good mate, and she just went and threw it in his face.

“Kouga, I…gomen,” she said, lowering her gaze submissively.

Kouga raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Huh?”

“I-I’m sorry that I didn’t see it that way,” she looked up at him again, her eyes slightly sad, “You are proving yourself to me.”

“I don’t see how,” Kouga said, stopping in the middle of the path, “You haven’t needed me to provide for you, when you need protection I’m not there, and now that I find something to help you with, you’re denying me.”

“You are,” Inukigo stated firmly. She then reached up and stroked his cheek lightly with her hand, “I know that you’re trying, and that’s all the proof I really need. It shows me that you will provide for me, protect me, and help me if you’re given the chance.”

Kouga smiled and leaned a little bit into her hand.

“Do you really mean that?”

Inukigo returned the smile and nodded.

“Thank you,” he replied softly, turning his head to kiss her palm.

Inukigo’s hand slid from his face down to wrap around neck, and was joined by her other one so she could pull her self up slightly and rest the side of her face against his collar bone.

“Can you take me back to the hut, please? I’m tired,” she finally admitted.

Kouga smirked, but said nothing and nodded against her head as he continued walking towards the hut.

“Now that’s the difference between their fights, and Kagome-chan and Inuyasha’s,” Sango said as they watched Inukigo hugging Kouga around his neck.

“Yeah,” Shippou commented, “Kouga can manage to get out the real reason behind why he’s upset, and Inukigo is forced to listen to him because she can’t ‘sit’ him like Kagome does to Inuyasha.”

Miroku and Sango nodded, and even Kirara gave a little ‘mew’ of agreement. The group quieted as Kouga finally walked by them and into Kaede’s hut with Inukigo still in his arms.

“Inuyasha will probably be back soon,” Miroku commented absently, “I wonder what his reaction will be when he finds that Kouga is still here.”

Kouga heard what Miroku had said, but gave no indication that he had. He didn’t really care what Inuyasha thought of him being there, because there was no way that he was going to leave until Inukigo was fully recovered. He hadn’t been there to protect her from her brother, and though she had told him that even if he had been there she would have told him not to interfere, he still felt guilty about not being there. At least he could be here now, and help her out while she was recovering.

Inukigo had fallen asleep in his arms, so he carefully laid her down on the futon and pulled the blanket up to her chin. He allowed himself a moment to watch her as she slept, and before he realized what he was doing, he was reaching forward and smoothing some of Inukigo’s hair back from her face. Inukigo sighed and rolled over, but didn’t wake up. Kouga removed his hand, then stood up and moved to sit down against the wall beside Inukigo’s feet. He looked down at his hand, then glanced back up at Inukigo’s sleeping figure.

‘I’m gonna need to talk to Inuyasha before I leave.’

“Ah, so you are still here, ookami-san?”

Kouga looked up at Kaede, who had just entered the hut with a basket of vegetables in her hands. What she had said was more a statement than a question, so he didn’t bother replying.

“I was just about to start the evening meal. Will you be staying?”

Kouga nodded.

“Yes. I will be staying until Inukigo is fully healed.”

Kaede chuckled and turned to look at him.

“You are quite vigilant, young man,” she commented, “Though I doubt her brother will take that news well.”

“Like I care,” Kouga snorted, “Whether he likes it or not is his problem. I’m staying.”

“I can see why she speaks so highly of you.”

“Eh?” Kouga said, surprised.

“She talks about you often with Kagome and Sango, and has many nice things to say about you. I even once heard her defend you from Inuyasha.”

Kouga blushed and looked away.

‘Did…did she really do all that?’

“I believe that it is safe to say, you have gained her favour, ookami-san.”

Kaede didn’t speak again, and went about preparing the meal while Kouga stared at the floor of the hut.

‘Okay, I definitely have to talk to Inuyasha before I leave.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inuyasha arrived back in the Feudal era shortly after dinner, and was irked to find that Kouga was still in the hut with Inukigo. His mood only got worse when he discovered that Kouga planned on staying for the remainder of Inukigo’s recovery. He wanted to argue, and he wanted to pick a fight and force Kouga to leave, but Inukigo seemed happier because of Kouga’s presence. So for the sake of his sister, Inuyasha held his tongue and allowed Kouga to stay.

Inuyasha had been surprised when Shippou told him about the incident that had occurred earlier when Inukigo had needed to use the bathroom. He knew all to well that Inukigo could be very stubborn when she wanted to be when it came to accepting help. He was the same way. What had shocked him was Inukigo’s reaction after she had been forced to accept Kouga’s help, and that she had admitted that she was tired afterwards. Being able to handle his sister gave Inuyasha a new respect for Kouga, not that he would admit it to anyone.

A short time later, Inuyasha did return to the Modern era through the well, but not before having a few minor arguments, then telling Miroku and Sango to keep an eye on Kouga while he was gone.

He returned to the past a bit later the next morning, and to his surprise, found Kaede’s hut completely empty. Everyone’s scents went off towards the village, so he headed in that direction. He found Kaede, Shippou, Miroku, and Sango milling about in the village, but Inukigo and Kouga were no where to be found. Inuyasha followed their scents further, finding that the led out of the village and towards one of the rivers used for bathing.

He spotted them shortly afterwards, finding that he was downwind, so they wouldn’t know he was there until they heard him. Using this to his advantage he crept closer, being very careful not to make a sound and give himself away. His original intention was to sneak up on the two of them and break them apart, but once he got close enough to see their position, he stopped short.

Inukigo and Kouga were sitting side by side with their backs to him, staring out over the river. Inukigo was tucked up against Kouga’s side with her head on his shoulder, and his arm had wrapped around her waist. He could tell that they were speaking to each other, but the whispers were too low for him to make anything out. Seeing how comfortable they looked together, Inuyasha lost his resolve to interrupt them and quietly left in the direction he had come.

Upon returning to the village, Inuyasha found the rest of his companions on their way back to Kaede’s hut and hurried to join them. Shippou heard him approaching, and the others turned to follow his gaze, all of them seemingly surprised to see him.

“Inuyasha,” Sango spoke, “Ano, didn’t you find Inukigo and Kouga?”

Inuyasha nodded.

“Yeah, I found them.”

The slight widening of their eyes gave away what they were thinking.

“I left them alone, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“You did?” Shippou asked, not even attempting to mask his surprise.

Inuyasha frowned in irritation.

“Yeah, I did. Is there something wrong with that?”

The three of them shook their heads before Sango spoke again.

“No, there’s nothing wrong. It’s just that, when we saw the two of them sitting like that, we weren’t sure what your reaction would be.”

“Keh!” Inuyasha replied, “They’re comfortable where they are, and I’m not going to deny Inukigo her happiness,” he then paused for a moment, looking away slightly, “They’re getting to be really close to one another. Kouga will probably ask to mark her soon.”

Thinking back on what had happened when he and Kagome had marked each other, Inuyasha wasn’t too sure that he liked that idea. But then he realised that Kouga would have to ask someone else before he asked Inukigo, and a smirk broke out on his face. The look confused the three that were standing before him.

“Inuyasha, why are you smiling?” Miroku asked.

“Oh, just that Kouga needs to have permission before he can ask Inukigo about marking her.”

Miroku and Sango still weren’t sure what he was talking about, but Shippou’s eyes widened.

“Kouga has to ask you first?”

Inuyasha’s grin grew wider while the others balked at him.

“Inuyasha,” Sango said warily, “You wouldn’t say no just because you don’t like Kouga, would you?”

Inuyasha snorted.

“Of course not. I wouldn’t do that to Inukigo. Besides, Kouga has proven that he could be a good mate for her. He’s putting in a lot of effort to take care of her, and from his reaction yesterday, I’m sure that he would protect her with his life. And he can handle her attitude. If he came and asked me if he could mark Inukigo, I would say yes,” his smirk then turned mischievous, “Not that I wouldn’t have some fun messing with his head first.”

“You’re taking way too much enjoyment from this,” Shippou commented from Miroku’s shoulder.

Inuyasha shrugged and continued walking on towards Kaede’s hut with the others behind him.

Later that evening, Kagome joined the rest of the shard hunters in the Feudal era, and they all settled in for a nice vacation while they waited for Inukigo to heal.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~

The next two days went by fairly quickly, and were greatly amusing for Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippou, and Inukigo. Watching Inuyasha and Kouga argue proved to be great entertainment, as did watching them try to ignore each other. While it did make for a few good laughs, Inukigo and Kagome were both grateful that it never turned into anything violent.

Inukigo was now pretty much completely healed. All the poison was now out of her system, and the only thing left of the injury was a small scar. No one was more relieved than Inukigo herself, because Kouga and Inuyasha had finally stopped fussing over her.

However, Inuyasha now had other worries. The one week that Sesshoumaru had set was now up, and the inu-youkai would probably be showing up any time now. Inuyasha was concerned about what would happen when Sesshoumaru decided to arrive, as was everyone else in the group. Kouga refused to leave once he had discovered that Sesshoumaru would be making a visit, just in case he decided to attack Inukigo again. Inukigo was tired of arguing with him about his protectiveness, so she just left him alone.

The group decided that they would start out on their next shard hunt, so when Sesshoumaru appeared the village wouldn’t be in danger if a fight broke out. So, after Kagome went back to her time for a few hours to stock up on supplies, the group set out, and was joined by Kouga, much to Inuyasha’s dismay.

“Why did that damn wolf have to come along?” Inuyasha grumbled to himself as he ran.

“You know he’s worried about Inukigo-chan, just like you are. Just leave it alone, okay? It’s only until Sesshoumaru shows up, and then he’ll leave. You can live with him for that long, can’t you?” Kagome said from her place on his back.

Inuyasha grunted, but still wasn’t too happy about the situation. He glanced ahead to where Inukigo and Kouga were running side by side. He sighed, knowing that he wouldn’t force Kouga to leave anyway, but no one else needed to know that.

They had been running for a good portion of the morning before Inukigo suddenly stopped, forcing everyone else to stop as well.

“Inukigo? What’s wrong?” Inuyasha asked as he let Kagome down from his back.

Inukigo glanced around at the forest around them, a thoughtful frown on her face.

“I’m not sure. I…I think Sesshoumaru is coming. I’m getting that weird feeling like I did before…but it’s…different this time.”

“Different how?”

“It’s not an ominous feeling like before, like there’s no danger. I just know that Sesshoumaru is coming.”

Everyone remained silent, watching the forest around them cautiously. Inuyasha and Kouga were the most alert, waiting anxiously for when they would be able to pick up on Sesshoumaru’s approach. A few minutes later, the inu-youkai himself glided out of the forest, having approached from downwind. Hurrying along behind him were Rin and Jaken. Inukigo recognized the imp youkai, but had never seen the girl before, and assumed that she was the girl she had smelled with Sesshoumaru a few weeks ago. That he brought the two of them with him had her puzzled. There was no way that he would bring such a young girl with him if he was planning on starting a fight, would he?

Sesshoumaru looked her way, and just as she was about to speak to him, two bodies, specifically Inuyasha and Kouga, effectively blocked her view. Sesshoumaru’s eyebrow arched almost unnoticeably as he watched the display. Inuyasha’s reaction he could understand, but he had no idea why the wolf youkai was acting in such a way.

“There is no need to be so defensive. I have not come to fight, I only wish to speak with Inukigo.”

“Yeah right, bastard. Like I’m gonna believe that,” Inuyasha snorted as both he and Kouga dropped into fighting stances.

Inukigo scowled at the backs of her living shields and growled in irritation.

“Will the two of you quit it. He said that he only wanted to talk to me, so the two of you can move out of the way now.”

Inuyasha turned around to look at her over his shoulder.

“You actually believe him?”

Inukigo sighed and stood up straighter, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Of course I do. You know Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha. He doesn’t lie. If he comes to fight, he doesn’t tell you, he just fights. If he comes to talk, he just talks.”

Inuyasha frowned thoughtfully and found that Inukigo was right. He relaxed his stance and moved to stand behind her instead of shielding her. Kouga however, was a little harder to move.

“Kouga, it’s fine. He’s not going to fight with me,” Inukigo said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

Kouga nodded and moved to stand behind her as well.

Inukigo took a deep breath and stepped forward to stand before Sesshoumaru, never once breaking eye contact with him.

“Was there something that you wanted from me, Sesshoumaru?”

The stoic inu-youkai nodded.

“I would like to speak with you, privately.”

To everyone’s surprise, Inukigo agreed and began to follow Sesshoumaru as he walked off the trail. Inuyasha was quick to react and called after them.

“Now wait just a minute! You never said anything about wanting to take her away and speak with her in private. I don’t like the idea of her being alone with you without anyone to defend her.”

Inukigo glared at him with irritation. He made it sound like she couldn’t take care of herself at all. Though it was true that she never fared well in battles with Sesshoumaru, that was from her own weakness. No matter what Sesshoumaru did to her, she could not bring herself to fight with him whole-heartedly or do him serious harm.

Sesshoumaru seemed to consider Inuyasha’s words then turned away from the group once again.

“You may join us, if you wish Inuyasha. What I have to say applies to you as well.”

Inuyasha hesitated for a moment before nodding and stepping forward to follow them. He glanced at Kagome, and taking note of her worried look, sent her a reassuring smile before he walked off into the forest.

Once Sesshoumaru felt that they were a reasonable distance away from the rest of the group, he stopped and turned to look down at his two hanyou siblings. For the first time in their lives, Inuyasha and Inukigo saw a clear look of uncertainty on his face. They looked at each other before Inukigo set her eyes on Sesshoumaru again and took a step forward.

“Sesshoumaru…?”

Sesshoumaru looked away, surprising both Inuyasha and Inukigo by being the first one to break eye contact. After a few moments, he finally broke the silence.

“I have found that during my life, there are a number of things that I have done that I have…regretted.”

He paused, leaving both Inukigo and Inuyasha watching him in confusion, but anxious to find out what he was trying to say. Neither moved or said a word as they waited for him to continue.

“And it has become clear to me that there is nothing I have regretted more, then my treatment of the both of you over the last number of years.”

The two hanyous before him just stood there, wide-eyed and in shock. Did Sesshoumaru just say that he regretted how he had treated them?

“A-are you serious?” Inuyasha asked, while Inukigo was completely speechless.

A nod was all he received in answer. A sudden anger overcame Inuyasha and he growled menacingly.

“What the hell do you take us for? Do you think it could be so simple that all you had to say was that you regretted it and it would be like nothing ever happened? Do you think that either of us could forgive you for what you’ve done? Especially what you’ve done to her?!” he yelled, pointing at Inukigo.

Sesshoumaru looked Inuyasha straight in the eye as he answered.

“I did not come here expecting your forgiveness. Nor did I plan to ask for it, because I see myself as unworthy of receiving it. My only intent was to tell you both that…I am sorry for my actions. Whether either of you choose to believe that or take action is completely your choice. I will-”

Sesshoumaru cut himself off as an unexpected weight crashed into his chest. That weight just happened to be Inukigo. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru just looked at her in confused shock, neither sure how to respond to her actions.

“I forgive you,” both heard her whisper.

Inuyasha was the first to find his voice.

“You what?! Inukigo, are you crazy?! You’re saying that you can forget everything that he’s done and forgive him for it? You can’t be serious!”

Inukigo didn’t release her grip on Sesshoumaru’s kimono, but turned to look over her shoulder at Inuyasha.

“I never said that I would forget anything. Those experiences will stay with me for the rest of my life. But…I’m willing to forgive him. I…I want my brother back.”

Inuyasha looked at her sadly, not really sure how to react. He knew how much Inukigo missed having Sesshoumaru in her life as her brother, but was it really wise for either of them to forgive him for all that he had done to them? Especially what he had done to Inukigo just a week ago?

“Inukigo…I don’t know…Are you really sure about this?”

Inukigo nodded.

“I am.”

“Why?”

Both hanyous looked at Sesshoumaru now that he had spoken.

“Why, what?” Inukigo asked.

“Why is it that you seem to be able to forgive me so easily after what I have done to you? I do not understand.”

Inukigo gave him a small smile.

“Because, I can understand your reasons,” she said calmly, “It would only be natural for you to seek revenge for the death of your kin, and because you blamed Inuyasha and I for father’s death, we were the one’s who suffered your revenge.”

Neither brother spoke, both seeing her reasoning, and both left speechless by her ability to forgive. After a few tense moments, Inuyasha was the one to break the silence with a sigh.

“I…I guess I can see your point Inukigo,” he then turned a hard glare on Sesshoumaru, “But that doesn’t mean that I forgive you. The pain that you have caused her,” he said, pointing at Inukigo, “I’m not sure I could ever forgive.”

“Inuyasha…” Inukigo tried to reason as she released Sesshoumaru and turned to look at him, but Inuyasha shook his head to silence her.

“You won’t be able to change my mind Inukigo. I’ve seen you hurt too many times because of him, both physically and emotionally. I don’t know how you can forgive him so easily, but I can’t. That’s just the way it is,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Inukigo nodded sadly, knowing that she would never force an opinion on him, even if she could. She should have expected this reaction from him, though she had been hoping for him to be a little more forgiving. At least he was no longer objecting to her action of forgiving Sesshoumaru.

A few moments later, Inukigo began fidgeting and looking between Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru nervously. She really wanted to reunite with Sesshoumaru properly, but she was worried about what Inuyasha’s reaction would be if she started to act so closely with him. It didn’t take long for Inuyasha to notice her unease, and seeing the looks she was sending between himself and Sesshoumaru he took a guess at what she was thinking about.

‘Maybe she wants to get reacquainted with him? Then why is she looking at me so uncertainly? Maybe she’s worried about what I’ll think. I don’t really like the idea of her being alone with him…but it might be better if I left. Inukigo trusts Sesshoumaru, and she’s right about him coming here only to talk; if he was here to fight he would have started one already.’

His mind made up, Inuyasha turned his back, catching both Inukigo’s and Sesshoumaru’s attention.

“I’m going to go back to the others and help set up a camp so we can get lunch ready. Try not to be too long or everyone will start worrying about you.”

Inukigo smiled at him gratefully and gave him a nod. Inuyasha nodded in return, then left to walk back to where they had left the rest of their companions. When he was out of sight, Inukigo turned to Sesshoumaru again, this time with her eyes lowered in a slightly submissive gesture. Sesshoumaru immediately realized what she was doing and inclined his head to acknowledge her. As soon as she was given the ‘okay’ Inukigo approached him and rose up as far as she could and started nuzzling her head underneath his chin while happy little whimpers made their way up her throat. Sesshoumaru answered her with deep growls of his own, both reaffirming their reunion after having been separated for so long. After a few moments, Inukigo pulled away with a smile on her face.

“Well,” she started, keeping her happy grin, “Where should we start?”

********************************************************** **************

Sorry, I had to cut it off there, but it would have turned out way too long if I didn’t. I hope that I’ve reaffirmed everyone’s faith in Sesshoumaru now…I ended up making a number of people hate him…I never intended to do that, lol. I had to have him fight with Inukigo at least once, ‘cause it would have been strange for him to show up and be all accepting right away (plus I needed the little bit of action). I’ll try to explain his reasons, and Inukigo’s reasons for forgiving him a little better in the next chapter.

And before people comment about it, the stuff I was saying about wolf demons near the beginning of the chapter is totally made up, just like all the other stuff about demons is either made up or inspired by other stories that I’ve read. It’s not meant to reflect badly on Kouga, this is just the main worry that Inuyasha has about Kouga and Inukigo being together. Okay, I think I covered everything I wanted to, so on with the reviews!

-- MM . ORG --

SilverShadowKitsune - Aww, I’m sorry that I made you have that opinion of Sesshoumaru. I love him to, and like I said earlier, I never meant to make people hate him. And I just had to have Kouga show up, couldn’t pass up the opportunity for cute Inukigo/Kouga fluffy moments, lol. As for the item you requested, it’s coming along well. I just have a little more work to do on it and it will be finished. I’m sorry that it’s taking so long, but I’m a terrible procrastinator.

Jenner - Thank you so much. That idea about having Inukigo and Kouga get separated from the rest of the group sounds very interesting…I think I’ll try to fit that in somewhere soon, lol.

ninja-of-the-night - Yeah, I was debating whether to use those words at first, but I wanted to show how traumatic the event was for Inukigo, so I decided to keep them. I don’t know if anyone was confused by this, but I’ll point this out anyway - Inukigo and Inuyasha did not see what happened to their mother, they heard it. The images that Inukigo saw in her dream after the young versions of herself and Inuyasha were hidden are ones that her mind created based on the sounds. They would get worse as she grew older, because as she matured her mind could create new pictures, but like she explained to Inuyasha a number of chapters back, she learned to deal with them. Anyways, back to the reply…Sorry, no Inukigo and Inuyasha tag-teaming Sesshoumaru’s ass, lol. And you’ll have to wait for Kouga to make Inukigo his intended, but it won’t be too much longer.

-- FF . NET --

Patriot1776 - Thank you very much. The nightmare was hard to write, I wanted to make sure that I made a strong impact with it. I suppose you could say that being injured weakened her resolve a lot so she reacted to the nightmare like she would have if she hadn’t taught herself to deal with them when she was younger. And thankfully, no more fighting with Sesshoumaru, so no one has to worry about Inukigo acting stupid and trying to take him on by herself, lol.

Pyrinsomniac - Okay *cracks knuckles*. First, thank you for that immense review. That was not only the longest review I have ever had, it’s also the longest one I’ve ever seen, lol. Well, about acid, yes a base would neutralize it, but I’m not so sure about water spreading it. Water is neutral, so I’m not sure how it would *trying to remember stuff from high school chemistry* I think I might look into that (if I remember, lol). Yeah, inu-youkai like from The Lucky Ones. That is my favourite fanfic, and I really liked that about it too, so I felt compelled to use it, hehe. Shippou’s ‘wakata’ was inspired by episode 107, but the characterization of Kouga and Inuyasha was unintentional. After you said that I realized how true it was. Heh, either it was a total fluke, or I’ve watched some of the episodes enough times that I’m doing it subconsciously…(I wonder which it is (V_v). I really like it when I’m forced to go back and read my stuff again, and see things I didn’t when I wrote it. The connection you made between the bandits and the group of boys that tried to sexually assault her when she was younger is one example. I didn’t see that, but now that you pointed it out I can see how that may have influenced her reaction. And that incident could have also made her dreams more vivid, so it could have worked both ways. Another example is the question you asked about if it got under Inukigo’s skin that Inuyasha fared better in fights with Sesshoumaru. I never really considered it before, but I thought about it for this chapter. No, I don’t think it does. I had Inukigo think about it close to the end of this chapter, and her thought about it was that it was from her own ‘weakness’. Inuyasha was able to hate Sesshoumaru for what he had done, Inukigo couldn’t. She doesn’t fare as well because she can’t bring herself to want to hurt him, whereas Inuyasha has no problem with doing that. The fact that Inuyasha happened to be human was not what I had intended to do in the first place, but out of curiosity I tried to roughly count the days from the full moon. It turned out that it was about time for the new moon, so I decided to just put it in there in case I forgot (I think it’s about 2 weeks between the new and full moon, but I don’t have a calendar to check right now). I’m gonna start thinking about that one-shot, sounds like it would be a good idea. Although Inuyasha did see Inukigo stand up for herself, you know he’s still gonna find reasons to worry about her anyway. I picture him as the overprotective brother who tries to keep all the boys away from his sister, lol. And now that I’m bringing Sesshoumaru back into her life, imagine what that’s gonna be like, lol. And as you can see, no Inuyasha and Inukigo tag-teaming Sesshoumaru (a few people wanted to see that…). And don’t worry about talking about the characters like they really exist, I do that a lot too. Guess we’re both a little insane, ne? lol. Thanks again for the great review, it really got my brain workin’.

Skitzo - Well, I will be bringing Kikyou in eventually to cause problems for Inuyasha and Kagome, but not yet. Maybe in a few more chapters. I don’t really have much interest in writing about her, so I want her there as little as possible.

InuYasha Obsession Grizzly - The limes do come pretty close don’t they…? I have had comments that I should just go ahead and write the lemon, but I need to develop the story a bit more before that. Well, I probably could put out a chapter every week, but I don’t for two reasons - 1. I’m to a point in the story now that I don’t have well planned out. I’m not sure what should come next so it takes me some time to put everything together, and 2. As I said a few replies up, I am a notorious procrastinator. I have a bad habit of putting things off. But I think I’m gonna start trying now, just to see if I can get out a chapter every week or two.