InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Beast ❯ Loser on Two Fronts ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: Inuyasha doesn't run my life, as he would if I owned him, not to mention the fangirls who would swarm my house. There are no fangirls swarming my house. Soooooo it follows that I do not own him. Or any of these characters. Minna-san wa no Rumiko Takahashi. And stuff in really, really poor Japanese. I could look it up, but I posted last chapter less than 3 hours ago and haven't slept...I took an entire semester and thrived, I promise! I just enjoy simplistic rambling. Yeah, that's it...oh, yeah, Sony owns the Discman trademark, too. Lucky them.

A/N: Man, I'm spoiling you guys. My body and my computer hate me. But I've been doing this to both of them since waaaay before I started posting this fic, so why bother blaming it on that? XD Ooooh, must turn up "Yura Yura"...that's the ending from the second movie...and if Explorer will freakin' open up so I can reread the last chapter all official-like, I can get started here....Except it seems from the good other computer that is doing one of their updates right this second. How very deflating. Blahhhh...shut UP, spell-checker!

(...Okay, conked out after less than two pages and coming back fresh. XD I guess I should delete my `tired' A/N, but it amuses me, so in it stays. I'll do a few reviewer responses at the end of the chapter, but till then...)

Beast

Chapter 8

"The sun actually came out a bit earlier this morning," Sango remarked, settling down into the tub across from Kagome.

"Really?' Kagome looked up from playing with the water in keen interest. "He must not have been that mad about last night, then."

Sango sighed. "Then Kouga came storming back in, demanding to see you."

Damn. "Is it snowing yet?"

"Drifts two feet high last I saw."

"Yep."

There was a comfortable silence as they soaked. Sango broke it first again. "You know, whether your com-puter device has power or not, we can still use it to communicate."

"Really?" Kagome's ears all but perked up. "How so?"

"Simple, really, I think. If you ask and I simply hit the keys in order, you write down the letters I hit, still in their own strange language, and you translate that in your mind. The curse still doesn't recognize that alphabet, does it? Nor would anyone who found it without the key."

"Nope!" Kagome grinned and settled in contentedly. "That's a great idea, Sango-chan. I'm glad you thought of that."

"Well, I won't tell you anything the houshi-sama refused to answer, but I imagine you still had questions yet unanswered."

Kagome nodded absently, closing her eyes and letting the water's heat seep into her very bones, it seemed. "I think today's officially a week since I got here," she mused aloud. And a week since my birthday. They probably don't celebrate that here, though.

"A week?"

"Yeah. It's a unit of measurement for time, seven days. Four weeks make a month, with a few extra days depending upon the moon's cycle. Fifty-two weeks are a year." Kagome paused. "Wait. If I'm here for three months and our measurement of time is different, how many more days do we have?"

"It shouldn't be too far from your reckoning, Kagome-chan," the slayer reasoned. "We also use the moon to mark the months. Kohaku awoke about three days before the moon was full, so we have roughly three more full moons before the curse must be broken."

"Okay, just checking." Kagome settled back down. "So I've been here almost a week now. It seems like much less than that...but longer, too." She frowned. "Hard to describe."

"Are you unhappy?" Sango's evident distress brought Kagome's head up. "You know Inuyasha wouldn't hold you if he genuinely believed you hated living here."

"I think you're right." Kagome shook her head and immediately wished she hadn't: the heat was getting to her. "But I do like it here. Even fighting with Inuyasha is...well, I guess it's kinda stimulating. I don't hate him as much as I used to, anyway. And I might just get through to him sooner or later. Years later, at this rate." Sango smiled her relief. Kagome smiled back, then rose. "C'mon, it's getting too hot in here. Let's get out before our brains shrivel up like prunes."

As always, Shippou was waiting in their room, and he hopped into Kagome's lap as she settled down and Sango went to get breakfast. "Are you okay now, Kagome?"

"I'm fine, Shippou-chan," she assured him, bouncing him on one of her legs playfully. "Things at dinner were just a little awkward, that's all."

"Good. I was afraid he'd tried something funny with the way you were acting last night. And Sango was getting mad `cause Miroku was chasing one of the maids..."

"Really?" Kagome had never thought to ask Sango what she did for dinner every night. "So his perversion's not limited to Sango, is it?"

The kit cast a disbelieving look up at her. "We really need to disguise you as a servant or something for a day so you can find out just how bad he is. Anything female and older than twelve is fair game. Which is really kinda stupid of him `cause his curse is passed down in his family, and he doesn't wanna get married, I heard him tell Inuyasha once..."

"You did?" Sango came in and set breakfast down, trying and failing to hide her curiosity. "What did he say?"

"Uh..." Kagome caught Sango's eye and tactfully ceased feeding the kit, freeing his mouth to talk for a moment. He looked up at her pleadingly, but she indicated Sango with a tilt of her head and he sighed. "He's gonna be mad I told you...but I think he said that even though Naraku's dead, his curse isn't going away, and he doesn't know how to break it, so if he gets married he'll just hurt his wife `cause he's gonna die soon, and then if he has a son, he'll just be passing the curse onto an orphan." Shippou eyed Kagome's chopsticks, but both women were staring at him, and he tugged at Kagome's hand. "That's all, it really is. Can I eat now?"

"Oh! Sure, sorry, Shippou-chan." Kagome had taken to feeding him herself the past few mornings as part of her unofficial plan to spoil him rotten while she was here, and took it up again now. "How awful for him. I never would've suspected from the way he acts, either."

"No," Sango agreed quietly, poking at her rice rather than eating it. "It explains a great deal I couldn't figure out before."

"Like what?" Kagome asked, sighing as the kit finished and bounded off her lap: he'd eaten almost three-quarters of her meal today.

"Like the way he flirts with every maid in the castle but always makes sure to get caught just in time, or the fact that for all his grabbing and leering and asking lewd questions, he sleeps alone in the room next to Inuyasha's every night..." Sango scooped up more rice, raised it to her mouth, and then set it down with a sigh.

"Um..." Kagome hesitated, wondering if it would be proper to ask just how Sango knew all this. "Uh...Sango? How do you know all this?"

"I keep my ears open. I haven't been able to so much these past days..." Sango stiffened and raised her voice ever so slightly. "But I doubt the lecher has changed so much in the past week that I can't feel him listening right behind us, of course!"

"My, Sango-sama," the monk said cheerfully, sliding open the shoji. "I do believe our relationship is suffering some improvement. Not only do you detect me seconds after I pause for breath in the vicinity..."

He politely ignored her mutter of, "Yes, breath, I'm certain, you eavesdropping rat."

"...but you also failed to greet me with any kind of flying object, curse or threat. I am most encouraged." And he bowed, smiling, so full of charm Kagome swore she could see little sparkles flying off him. She glanced at Sango and saw she wasn't the only one in the room who thought so.

"That can always change, houshi-sama," Sango said dryly. "Now, what do you want?"

"Ah, yes." The monk sat down a discreet distance away and folded his arms over his staff. "I come bearing news of grave significance for Inuyasha's peace of mind. It would seem that Kouga has discovered that his asking after you annoys Inuyasha greatly. I wouldn't be surprised if your suggestion of spending more time together last night began to receive serious consideration tonight."

"He told you about that?" Miroku nodded. "I see. I'd rather he want to hang out to get to know me, not to annoy Kouga, of course, but whatever works, I guess."

Miroku coughed. "Yes, it would seem that whatever happened last night...something about talking about emotions, I believe? It made quite the impression on Inuyasha. I could hear him mumbling and pacing throughout the night." He gave Kagome another of his grins. "You're already causing him nightly discomfort. Most impressive, Kagome-sama."

"You make it sound so wrong!" Kagome protested, and Sango expressed concurrence by whacking the monk lightly in the back of the head.

"Perhaps, perhaps," Miroku said hastily, backing away further and rising to his feet. "But the fact remains that you do appear to be making some sort of progress with our lord. Whatever it is you are doing, please continue. Even if you choose not to marry him, we should at least be able to derive some entertainment before..." He had to trail off, but now Kagome could mentally fill in the blank: before our messy and untimely deaths.

"I wished only to warn you before you ventured out for the day." Miroku bowed. "Kagome-sama. Sango-sama."

"Er...houshi-sama?" Sango's voice stopped him halfway out of the room. He turned and looked back; his gentle, inquiring expression seemed to embarrass her, and she shook her head. "...Never mind. I apologize."

Miroku raised an eyebrow, but only inclined his head and slid the shoji closed behind him.

Kagome could hardly restrain herself till he was out of earshot. "And what was that, Sango-chan?"

"What was what?" The slayer leapt to the defensive. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean! You like him!"

Sango almost dropped her chopsticks. Then she cleared her throat and began to eat again. When she spoke, her tone was almost convincing, even with her face glowing light pink. "You cannot possibly be serious. He's a liar, a lecher, and his only goal in life is to grope as many females as he can before his time comes!"

"Did you ever ask him why he lied to get you to agree?" Oops. So much for letting her find out from him. Time for damage control... "I mean, maybe he actually had a good reason."

"What possible reason could he have for manipulating us both?" Sango glared at her over the edge of her bowl. "Did he tell you?"

"Why don't you ask him?" Kagome smirked as her friend's face darkened. As fair-skinned as they both were, she felt rather bad for Sango: her training had obviously failed to prepare her for situations like this, while Kagome had been professionally hiding her feelings for years. Till I got here, anyway. Stupid Inuyasha...

"Because he refuses to discuss anything more serious than my willingness to hold still while his hands wander." Sango glanced at Shippou for support, but the kit was snoozing on the bed, stuffed and dead to the world.

"Maybe he does that on purpose," Kagome said thoughtfully, setting her dishes down on the breakfast tray. Sango frowned at her and shook her head, but Kagome plowed on. "Think about it. He's not dumb, we know that much. Look at how fast he learned to type. And you'd think he was only stupid when it comes to dealing with women, but if Shippou-chan is right and he really doesn't want to get close to anyone, and if he knows that his lechery annoys you, then he knows that's the best way to keep his distance, and that's why he won't stop groping you!" Kagome clapped her hands. "See, it makes perfect sense!"

"If this is what you did to Inuyasha, no wonder he got angry," Sango muttered, gathering up the dishes. "You're completely stretching things."

"Am I?" Kagome grinned as Sango grew even redder. "I'm not gonna be here forever, so I figure I might as well just come out and say this stuff." Watching daytime psychiatry talk shows actually had a benefit! I'll be damned!

"Well, it's a lovely theory, Kagome-chan, but he's just a pervert, and that's all." Sango picked the tray up.

"And what if he isn't?" Kagome asked softly. She regretted it instantly as her friend's shoulders hunched.

"He is," Sango said harshly, nearly tearing the shoji open and hurrying out.

Crap...stupid, stupid, stupid! Kagome berated herself. If you think you're so smart about people, use it to figure out that it doesn't matter if they really like each other, `cause he's cursed, gonna die soon no matter what, and they both need to keep their distance! And figure it out BEFORE you rub it in her face! Idiot!

"I'm sorry, Sango-chan," she said quietly as the slayer came back. "I won't bother you about it any more."

"No, it's all right," Sango replied, still a little uncomfortable. She managed a smile. "We shouldn't head out till Kouga's had the chance to look for you and figures out that Inuyasha rigged this wing of the castle to forbid him entry. Why don't we look through your things like we talked about the other day?"

Kagome laughed. "Sure." She moved onto the bed, scooping Shippou up and settling him on her pillow. "So what did he do, put up a `No Wolves' sign?"

Sango echoed her and began pulling out a few of the trunks they'd filled with Kagome's things. "No, he did something that enables this room and the ones around it to recognize Kouga's youki - his demon energy - and become solid wood. I wouldn't be surprised if he also somehow set it to reform automatically, because knowing Kouga, he'll just try to punch through."

"That's kinda funny, in a scary way." Kagome didn't like the idea of having to stay in here all the time, but she doubted Kouga would eat her or anything if she went out. Besides, it was kind of nice to think Inuyasha was willing to expend that much effort to defend her. "Here, lemme show you my Discman."

Sango watched and listened in rapt fascination as Kagome removed her favorite CD, explained how the patterns on the bottom of the disc contained a special code that the `Discman' device translated into sound, and slipped the CD back in and held up her earphones. "These transmit the sound to your ears. They're designed to fit over your head, but I'll just let you listen like this till you get used to it."

Kagome clicked a button, held up the Discman so she could see the disc suddenly begin to spin at an impossible speed, and turned a tiny black wheel in the side of the device. Sango's mouth fell open, and Kagome winked at her. "This controls volume. It should start...now!"

Right on cue, sound began pouring from the soft black ends of the half-loop Kagome held up, and Sango leaned away. "What...what in the...?"

"It's music. Here, listen." Kagome offered the headphones, and Sango tentatively accepted it and held it near her ears. "Never heard anything like it, have you?"

"Definitely not." It was a girl singing in a low, sweet alto, with several strange instruments and occasionally more female voices joining with the first. She could understand the words, which were as melancholy as the beautiful voices and instruments. Music in her era was limited to plays, religious ceremonies and chanting or solitary voice and accompaniment at the very most, and as she heard even those very rarely, Sango listened to this bittersweet tapestry with nothing short of dumbfoundment. "I think I like it...but is it all so sad?"

"That one is a little depressing, yeah," Kagome agreed. "Each CD contains several songs, and each song is on its own track. To move between tracks, hit these buttons." She showed Sango the search buttons. "And this wheel here controls volume, of course. When you want to stop the music for a little while but then return soon, you hit this one, pause, then again to make restart where you left off...and then `stop' here when you're done listening."

"Incredible," Sango whispered, turning it over gently to study the writing. "What's a war-ran-ty?"

"It tells whoever buys it that the people who created it promise that it works." Kagome tapped the space over the batteries. "This is where you put the objects that give the Discman the energy it needs to play songs. When they're drained, you just buy new ones at any store and put them in."

Sango shook her head, carefully pressed the search button and jumped, nearly dropping the device and the headphones as electric guitar blared. "Whoa, be careful! These things are fragile." Kagome gently took the Discman back, but let Sango keep the `phones. "That sound is made with a stringed instrument called an electric guitar. Remember how I said electricity is used for everything in this world?" Sango nodded, scrolling the volume down. "Well, it's also used to amplify sound, and we - younger people - tend to like our music very loud, like this."

"I prefer the other song," Sango murmured, skipping the track and settling on a synthesized techno beat. "What instrument is this?"

"It's called a synthesizer. It's a machine, a device that uses electricity and converts sound into different...uh...sounds. It can mimic other instruments and create almost any noise."

"Oh? Is that why each song sounds so different?"

"Well, that and the fact that I burned this mix myself-that is, I took several songs from different CDs and put them onto one disc for myself, like putting a bit of several different foods on one plate."

Sango just shook her head. "And you have these incredible things just as toys?"

"Well, most people tend to take music pretty seriously...people make billions of yen a year because the CDs can be produced in the millions pretty cheaply, and sold at a much higher price to thousands or millions of people all around the world. But, basically, yeah, I guess it is a toy." Kagome was rather enjoying the explanations, but decided to ease up for now: Sango looked as if the concepts involved were giving her a headache. The slayer was by no means stupid, but nothing in her experience was even remotely close to the thought of someone making millions of magic discs to sell around the world, and of such a thing being commonplace. If she'd heard the idea in her own time, she'd have had a good laugh and thought nothing else of it.

The sound had woken the kitsune up, and he bounded over to sniff at the loud black thing Sango was holding. "What's that noise it's making? And how come it smells like your head, Kagome?"

Kagome gave an abbreviated explanation, and Shippou quickly lost interest. "I'm gonna go see where Kouga is. I'll be back in later."

"Thanks, Shippou-chan." Kagome waved as he bounded out and turned her attention back to Sango. "Wanna try putting them on now?"

"I suppose." Sango permitted Kagome to demonstrate how to slip them over her head and settle them on the ears, then did so herself, turning the volume down slightly. Her eyes widened. "This is remarkable! It's like it's almost directly in my head!"

"That's the idea," Kagome said, a bit loudly. "Want to try another CD?"

It was almost time for lunch when Kagome declared that Sango needed a break, and the slayer reluctantly let her put the Discman and headphones up.

"Ears feel funny, don't they?" Kagome smiled knowingly as Sango rubbed hers.

"Yes, it does leave a strange feeling. It was worth it, th-"

Thud and the walls trembled slightly.

The shoji flew open and Shippou dashed in, barreling right into Kagome's arms. "Kagomeeee! You gotta go stop them again!"

"Those idiots..." Not a lot of effort to figure out who he meant. "C'mon, Sango, let's go."

The fight had been moved to the courtyard this time; the crash had been one of them - likely Inuyasha, Kagome figured - hitting the wall near her room. The servants had gathered along the rails, at a fairly safe distance, and were watching with resigned interest. Kagome made Shippou get off at the steps just in case and hurried down to within ten or fifteen yards of the pair, who were leaping, twisting and slashing at each other with dizzying speed. Sango stepped protectively in front of Kagome, who gave her an exasperated look and contented herself with the fact that the fight was gradually moving their way anyway. Not like it matters...it stopped snowing, at least. Guess he really likes fighting.

"HEY!" she yelled, hoping to get their attention again. "Would you guys cut it out?!"

Both paused long enough to look her way...and then promptly returned to their battle. "Hey, there you are, Kagome!" Kouga shouted, waving with high good humor as Inuyasha cursed and swiped at his face. "Gimme a minute to shut dog-turd up and we can talk again, just the two of us!"

Well, that sounded cozy and fun. Not.

"Kagome! Get your ass back to your room!" Inuyasha shouted. His capacity for multitasking seemed unequal to Kouga's, though, and he went flying as Kouga flashed one foot at his ankle, jerked it from beneath him, and landed a spin-kick directly in his back.

"Too slow!" And Kouga darted around, ahead of Inuyasha, and rammed him into the ground with an elbow drop.

"That one had to hurt," Sango muttered, wincing with the rest of the servants.

"Okay, that's enough!" Her indignation still up at both of them, but sympathies inclined towards the prone hanyou, Kagome and a very cautious Sango approached the pair as Kouga hovered just out of reach. Inuyasha certainly didn't look like he was getting up, but the wolf had learned what happened when he acted on assumption in fighting. "Are you idiots happy, or do you need to go mark a tree or something?!"

"Whatcha getting so mad for?" Kouga scratched his head and grinned. "He can take worse than that and live. Might not be too happy about it, but he lost. What else would you expect from a dumbass half-breed?"

"Oh, shut up, Kouga!" Kouga's face froze in comical shock as she brushed past him and dropped to her knees in the snow. "Hey, Inuyasha, are you all right?"

"P..." Sure enough, Inuyasha was conscious. He craned his bleeding, aching neck to the side, just enough to glare at her with one eye. "P...piss...off."

Kouga spat to the side and sauntered off towards the castle. "Fine by me if you wanna waste time with dog-turd here. I'll be up on our balcony later if you're lucky."

"Your balcony?" Inuyasha gritted, trying feebly to lean away as she leaned in closer.

"I talked to him for a minute twice before, and it was in the same place. Now he wants you to think we're a couple or something. I told you you're easy to read. He's just trying to make you jealous."

"Jealous?!" The castle's lord sprang out of the snow like she'd lit a fire underneath him and forced himself to stand still, body screaming in pain. "Why the fuck would I be jealous if you and that filthy wolf wanna curl up somewhere?"

"I dunno, same reason you're getting so bitchy about it, and probably the same reason you started your stupid testosterone-fest?" Kagome reached for his arm, but he stubbornly snatched it out of her reach, refusing to look at her. "Oh, for...look, I don't even like Kouga very much! And if I'm supposed to break the curse, which he is a part of, why else would he hit on me if not to try to make you jealous? He's just trying to make you look bad. Whether anyone likes me or not doesn't even matter."

Slightly mollified, Inuyasha snorted and sat down hard in the snow, sulking and trying to ignore the burning throb in his back and side where Kouga's foot and elbow had struck. "That makes sense, I guess. But you still didn't have to interfere. I'm gettin' sick of it."

"Okay, fine. If you wanna let him kill you, be my guest and excuse me for caring." She got to her feet, brushed her knees off and stalked back towards the steps. Then she stopped, came back and knelt again, reminding herself to apologize to Sango for this later. "And thanks for fixing my room to keep him out, but I have Sango and Shippou there to chaperone. I'm not gonna be sneaking him in, so you can save your energy and-"

"That's not what I was worried about!" he snarled. "I know Sango and the runt are keeping an eye on you...or I did till you said you talked to the wimpy wolf alone..." His irate gaze slid to Sango, who bowed and murmured that it wouldn't happen again. "Damn straight. But I was thinkin' the next time you start reeking again, he might come after you, and like I said before, if he did, you'd be screwed more ways than one."

"You jerk!" That last bit blotted out the little goodwill she'd been feeling for his openly worrying about her, with no excuses about the curse thrown in. Kagome shoved him over, forgetting his injuries, and he flopped back into a drift with a yelp of pain. "Do you have to put it that way?! And Sango knows a way to keep me from reeking next month, so thank you very much for the consideration, but no thanks!"

"Fine!" Inuyasha shifted back into a sitting position and folded his hands, hoping his grimace would be interpreted as sulking and not pain. "I'll tell him to go ahead the next time he asks if you're still available, then!"

"The next time he asks, tell him to talk to me and I'll straighten him out myself!"

Good. She hadn't noticed. "Fine, then! Get your ass back inside and straighten him out, if you want! I'm not stopping you!"

Eyes blazing, Kagome got back up and marched to the steps, leaving him still in the snow as Sango followed her yet again, sighing at the back-and- forth repetitions. He willed her to move faster; as soon as she was inside, he could yell at the servants to get back to work and then go about the business of crawling back to his room. Where the hell was Miroku? Probably in the kitchens again, the lecherous, irresponsible-

"Everyone, please go back to your duties."

His eyes snapped to the bottom of the steps. Kagome had her arms folded at the waist, feet planted and was calling up to the servants with polite but very firm authority. "Your lord appreciates your concern, but the fight is over, and I wish to speak with him alone. You're all dismissed."

Where the hell had this come from? Inuyasha grumbled internally about that `concern' line - damn lazy gawkers don't give a damn about me, probably hope he kills me someday soon - but watched with considerable surprise as the servants bowed nearly as one and filed back into the castle, leaving her standing there, and Inuyasha and Sango equally nonplused.

"What was that?" he asked grumpily as Kagome came back to his side yet again.

"More of my psychic powers at work," she teased, still delighted that the servants had actually listened to her. She was half-expecting them to just stare or something. "I'm sorry I pushed you like that. I forgot that you got pulverized. Can you get up at all?"

"Feh" was his only response, and she shook her head, smiling.

"I figured as much, and you didn't need the servants watching you just sitting here all day and waiting for you to get up and dismiss them. Now, what are the odds you'll let me or Sango help you up?"

"Slim to none," Sango muttered, reaching down and swiftly hauling the growling lord to his feet. "And here's the houshi-sama to get you back to your room."

"I...came...as..." Miroku paused to catch his breath, leaning heavily on his staff. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha, I was indisposed."

"I'll bet," Sango snapped, picking a long black hair off the edge of his staff. "Have you been giving haircuts again, houshi-sama?"

"In the storage area of the kitchen, by the smell of it," Inuyasha added, tottering slightly and shaking off Miroku's offer of assistance. "I don't need any of your help, thanks, so leave me alone."

"I told you, you're a crappy liar." Kagome ignored his protests and ducked under his arm to support his injured side. "Oh, quit growling, you big faker. I'll let you fall on your face as soon as we get up the steps."

"Shut up." But that was all: Sango and Miroku watched open-mouthed as Inuyasha fixed his eyes ahead but otherwise permitted the girl to help him up the icy steps and to the door. They couldn't hear the brief spate of argument once the pair reached the entrance, but Inuyasha staggered away as swiftly as he could, and Kagome threw up her arms in obvious disgust as her friends recovered and hurried up the steps.

"Can you believe him?" she asked in rhetorical disgust as they stopped near her. "I practically carry the jerk up and he acts like I kicked him in the face and spat on him! It's not like I was the one who beat him into a pulp! I swear, that pride of his is gonna kill him one d-"

Whoops. That was a little too potentially prophetic for comfort. She stopped, and Miroku hastened to fill in the gap. "You mustn't be offended, Kagome-sama. On the contrary, I've never seen Inuyasha give in so easily, and I've known him for about fifteen waking years. He must feel immensely comfortable around you already."

"Nah, he was just in too much pain to move by himself. `Sides, I didn't give him a choice." Kagome ignored both monk and slayer's obvious disagreement and her own curiosity. He did give in without much fuss for him... "I hope the stubborn moron falls and breaks his nose, too! Sorry for the runaround, Sango, but I think Kouga deserves a piece of my mind right now, while I'm still ticked. Let's go!"

And they were off, though not before Sango and Miroku exchanged one more round of raised eyebrows.

"Hey, woman, took you long enough," Kouga greeted her on the balcony, lounging against the rail. He sniffed, and his face hardened. "And why do you smell like dog-turd?"

"Because we just had an extended makeout session," she said sardonically. "I just helped him up, that was all. It's really none of your business what I smell like, though, is it?"

"Maybe it should be." Grinning, he approached her and looked her up and down speculatively.

"Stop that!" she snapped. "I'm not a piece of meat. Quit looking at me like you're gonna eat me or something."

"Ah, the lady has a point." Kouga stepped back and bowed, much more courtly and less mocking than before. "Do forgive me. Toying with the dog-turd by using you is pretty low, I admit. It's just too much fun. Couldn't help myself."

"Accepted," Kagome said warily, wondering if this was a new act.

"We got off on the wrong foot. I'm Kouga, prince and servant of the western wolf-demon tribe. Pleased to meet you." He bowed again, and Kagome blinked.

"Uh...Higurashi Kagome. Pleased to meet you." She bowed.

"Good. And another thing-you know I'm not gonna force it on you, right?"

Damn, he's going right down the list! "I...do now, I guess. Thanks." Her voice even sounded steady.

Kouga grinned. "Nice. I didn't wanna go about this with you thinkin' you have to watch me every second. Not that I mind if you do, of course, just not like that."

Warning bells sounded. "Go about this?" she repeated.

"Yep. You seem to be the kinda woman who likes to be up front, and I like that, so I'll do that." He suddenly grabbed her hands, ignoring Sango's loud cough from the doorway. "The way I figure it, there's no way in hell you'd ever go with the dog-turd. Am I right?"

"Uh..."

Kouga seemed vastly encouraged by the lack of a flat refusal. "See? Then you're not really taken at all. If the curse ain't getting broken, we may as well make good use of the time we have left, eh?"

Uh oh. "What exactly are you trying to say?" She tried vainly to tug her hands free.

"I'm not saying I wanna play and then forget about you." He suddenly became somber, and his ice-blue eyes fixed on hers. She gulped. "I think you should be my woman."

"Whaaaa-"

"I can protect you from the dog-turd, and we can escape here when the curse ends," Kouga pointed out, undeterred by her strangled response. "It's actually a perfect idea once you think about it. Yeah, sounds good to me. So you're mine now, th-"

"No, I am not." Kagome found her voice and glanced over her shoulder for help. Sango speedily approached and got Kouga's attention by stepping as far between them as she could with their hands still joined.

"What're you interrupting for, wench?" he asked irritably, trying to move them away from her.

"Kagome-sama has rejected your proposal, and it's improper for you to maintain contact with an unclaimed female," Sango said coldly.

"You did?" Kouga looked at Kagome in surprise. She nodded rapidly, and he released her hands-seemingly only so he could scratch his head. "Why not? What's wrong with me?"

"I don't know you at all! You can't just propose and expect me to agree right off the bat!" Kagome didn't mind this time when Sango edged in front of her.

"So? Why not?" Kouga demanded.

"Human females expect to be courted, and only after they express interest, Kouga-sama," Sango answered. "She is not a wolf demon to be claimed, and cannot fight you to express her lack of willingness."

"Ohhh, I get it." Kouga grinned. "So I gotta work for it, eh? That's a pain in the ass. But worth it!" He looked out into the courtyard and sniffed the air. "Dog-turd must like getting beaten. S'getting warmer already. Later, Kagome!" Without bothering with the rail, Kouga leapt straight out from the middle of the balcony, landed on one foot with easy grace, and pelted off into the woods.

"Showing off for you," Sango sighed, running a hand through her dark brown hair. "Sorry, Kagome-chan, I tried."

"No, you were a big help. I don't think there's anything I could do short of putting on a collar with Inuyasha's name on it, and I doubt even that would help." Kagome also sighed. "We already missed lunch. Let's go see what we can scare up from the kitchens."

After a brief meal of leftovers, they filled Shippou in on what happened. The kit had awoke partly from the smell of wolf left on Kagome's hands. "Ewwww," Shippou declared, wrinkling his little nose. "You don't actually like him, do you? Even Inuyasha would be better than that."

"No, I don't like him." Kagome sighed. "Even I can smell it. I better go take a bath early. Want to come, Sango-chan?"

"Of course." Sango paused in the act of gathering clean clothing and smiled at Shippou. "Would you like to join us?"

"Yeah!" Shippou leapt onto Kagome's shoulder. "You don't mind, do you, Kagome?"

"Well..." With his nose, he probably knew a few basics of biology already, so hopefully she wouldn't have to explain certain things to him. And he was too little to worry about him seeing them, either. "Sure."

One very messy bath (and one tub minus a water-war's worth of hot water) later, the trio headed outside on Shippou's insistence, and to their surprise, he was right.

"The sun really is out!" Kagome peered up at the breaks in the clouds. "Wow...at this rate, the snow'll be gone by this time tomorrow."

"And we can have a mud fight!" The idea excited Shippou so much that he wriggled off her shoulder and began hopping along the railing, tail and ponytail bobbing with his hummed chant. "Mud, mud, sun, mud, sun..."

Kagome watched his odd war dance and shook her head, amusement warring with concern. He was prancing over at least a twenty-five-foot drop, nothing but snow to break his fall. "Stop it, Shippou-chan, or you're gonna-"

Shippou's left paw promptly slipped, and he slid off the side with a squeak of panic. Sango made a grab for him, but a blur of red brushed her aside and hauled the kit up by the tail. "Too slow," Inuyasha growled, plunking the frightened boy back in Kagome's arms. "Some babysitter you are."

Kagome was too relieved to do anything but glare at him before turning her attention to soothing Shippou. Sango eyed Inuyasha as he sauntered back to the castle entrance. "And what are you doing out here?"

"Stalking me again," Kagome volunteered, then began humming and patting the sniffling kitsune again.

Inuyasha shrugged, sufficiently healed now to pretend it didn't hurt. "Just got hungry early again. No big thing."

"It's still afternoon," Sango said dryly. "That's very early to be eating dinner."

"Shut up, wench. I eat when I want."

Sango scowled. I will never understand how Kagome and Miroku put up with him.

"I just ate, Inuyasha," Kagome said around Shippou's hair. "But if you'll wait a few minutes, I'll come up and sit with you."

"Feh! Hurry it up." Inuyasha stalked back inside, but settled into a corner near the stairs, clearing the area of servants with a few well-placed glares.

"You really spoil the kid too much," he grumbled as they made their way to the dining room. Sango had been dispatched to order dinner early today, and so they had nothing to do when they arrived but sit down and snipe at each other.

"He's an orphan and he just got a bad scare," she said defensively. "Why wouldn't I try to calm him down?"

"He would've been fine. He's a demon, remember? Besides, he can do this weird floating thing. Ask him to show you outside sometime. You're just turning him into an even bigger weakling than he already is."

"Don't make me give you more metaphors..."

"Keh."

"Fine! If you're building a new house - not a shed or a hut, but a house - would you give it a half-ass foundation, or would you try to make it as strong as possible?"

"You make it strong-by not coddling it!"

"Ah, you catch on quick, grasshopper-but you don't make children strong and confident and healthy by shoving them away as soon as they can walk! You give `em love, support and let them be kids for a while! Piling adult responsibilities and BS macho attitudes on him when he's not big enough to reach past my knees will just screw him up!"

"And how do you know all this? How many kids have you raised in your long and full life, wise one?"

"It's common sense."

"Says who?"

"Says me, you lunkhead!"

"What the hell is a lunkhead?"

Kagome smiled. "You."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. Walked right into that one.

He hated to admit it, but he was actually grateful he'd wandered down in time to grab the runt. The incident had distracted her from this morning's fight and his humiliation quite nicely. Last thing I need is her thinking I'm some kind of needy weakling. If he hadn't been so mad at the bouzu for putting him in that position, he never would've-

"Thanks for saving him."

Twitch. She was always doing that to him, it seemed. "I told you, he would've been fine. I shoulda let him go and taught him to pay for his mistakes."

"You wouldn't have let him fall." Kagome shrugged.

"Don't bet on it," he growled, but she just smiled again.

Inuyasha was extremely grateful when the food arrived. His snorts were getting less and less effective, and memories of last night were starting to drift around his brain, which seemed suddenly determined to keep him even more on the defensive than normal. That would usually be fine with him, but with that and his still-painful injuries knitting up, it was wearing him out.

"Uh..." He glanced up at her soft start. "I should probably tell you now, so you don't hear the wrong thing from Kouga..."

Inuyasha's lips curled into a snarl at the name. "What?"

"Uh...he...kinda proposed to me. I said no, but he seems pretty stubborn about it." She waited for it...

Inuyasha didn't move for a moment...and then he shrugged. "So?"

"So?" She stared at him. "You got into a deathmatch because he wanted to talk to me, and all you can say now is so?"

"Yeah. What, are you ears broken?" He continued eating, seemingly unruffled.

Well, this was interesting. She couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Maybe he was pretending to piss her off?...Possible...but if that was it, he was going a great job, and it was working.

I think it's working. As promised, Miroku had taught him a few simple mental tricks for keeping one's mind calm, and though it was waaaay more work to keep it up than he liked, it did seem to be working. The moment she said `proposed' and his mind began roiling, he just shut it off, and now he genuinely didn't care and she was getting flustered. Perfect.

Kagome had no idea what to think of it. To go from such unreasoning anger to complete indifference in a few hours was not possible for Inuyasha. Something had to be up. "So you don't care that he's treating your hostage like a potential mate, mocking the fact that my very purpose for being here is to agree to marry you, is that it?"

His eye twitched, but that was all. "Correct."

On the outside, anyway. His mind was straining to hold onto that enveloping calm, but it was not easy when she had a point and he agreed in the first place.

"Ah." Kagome definitely smelled something up and wondered how much more it would take to crack him. "That's good, `cause he also indicated that as soon as the curse's time was up, he'd be able to grab me and run off."

Close. VERY CLOSE. "And did he indicate any other details about the curse's time being up?" He took a tiny sip of sake.

"Oh, no, he just mentioned something about running off. Sango even told him I'm not a wolf and he can't just claim me, but now he thinks he can court me like a human. Doesn't that include his giving me gifts, openly, by the way?"

Snap went the calm and bam went his fist on the tatami floor. "He wants to court you like a fucking human?!"

"That's what he said," she replied, marking down another 10,000 points for herself. "I said no, and you can ask Sango if you don't believe me."

"Well, you must not have said it very well!" Inuyasha yelled.

Kagome frowned. "You don't have to shout. It's not like I liked him grabbing me and telling me I'm his, you know."

"Grabbing-?!" Inuyasha leapt to his feet. "I'll kill him!"

"Sit down!" Her voice lashed at him, and he flinched and dropped to his feet. Where was this coming from?! "What do you care if he grabbed me? Only Sango saw."

"You are not his," Inuyasha spat, nearly crushing his sake cup. "If I don't kill him, he's never going to get that!"

"Of course I'm not his. Any of the servants who were watching this morning know that, too, and there's no one else around to see, so relax. I'm sick of you two fighting anyway."

"That's none of your business!"

"It is too! It's an embarrassment just knowing you're going at it like little kids, and besides, I don't like seeing you get hurt!"

There it was again. She'd said something similar earlier, when she told Kouga to shut up. Just the memory made him want to smirk. He shoved it aside now, as he'd done then.

And when she told the servants to go and saved you your dignity, and took it on herself to help you without getting disgusted about having to touch you, or the-

"Don't like seeing me get hurt? What, does blood make you that squeamish? Or did having to haul my ass up those steps bug you that much?"

Kagome had been waiting for him to bring that one up. It had very obviously bugged the hell out of him. "You know perfectly well I did it voluntarily, and I just wanted to help. If I thought you were disgusting or whatever ridiculous ideas you have, I would've made Sango and Miroku take you up. And for your information, I don't like seeing anyone get hurt."

Inuyasha relaxed at that one. See? Anyone. You're not a special case. "Fine, then, wench, we'll fight where you won't see. On the roof, maybe."

Kagome stuck her tongue out. "I bet there's not even any space for that up there. It's all angles."

"Oh, yeah?" He smirked at her. "I'll take you there and prove you wrong sometime. There's a pavilion Dad built up there so he and Mom could be alone."

"Ooooh!" She had to restrain herself from jumping up and tugging on his hand. "I wanna see! Can we go now?"

Inuyasha smirked, but with only a hint of his usual arrogance. "Not now, wench. It's still frozen. Maybe later, after the ice is melted."

"I'd like that," she said softly, and it was only then that it occurred to Inuyasha that he'd just told her about a place not even Miroku knew about. He suppressed a growl. This's what I get for talking to her. I knew I should've stuck to what I said last night!

Kagome was also quiet, sensing that he was probably regretting his offer. Well, I'm not giving him an excuse to renege or be sorry he made it.

"It's already been seven days since I came here," she said after a few quiet but not uncomfortable minutes.

"Really?" He glanced up.

"Well, I think so. I kinda lost track of the days."

"Hmph. Feels like forever."

And we're back to normal yet again. "What would you have done if Dad hadn't wandered in and I hadn't shown up?"

"I would've had to send Kirara out looking for women." He made a face. "I hate saying that. After 250 or 500 years, you kinda lose the feeling that you know your vassals well enough to be able to pick any of `em to randomly ask to marry you."

"That reminds me..." Kagome shifted. "Kouga said you woke up after only 7 years this time, when it was supposed to be 250?"

Inuyasha growled deep in his throat. "If it'll shut you up...yeah, we ended our second chance only 7 years ago. I woke up because I felt someone close by. Turned out to be your st-father."

Kagome was grateful for the catch. "And you did save his life. I never thanked you for that."

"Yeah, guess I did. Sent Shippou out half-awake - not all formed yet - and then put him back so he could wake up on his own after he'd helped your dad come in."

"Half-awake? Weird. I wonder why Shippou never mentioned it to me?"

"They don't remember things that happen when they're like that. They take orders easily, too. I had most of the servants like that the second time we woke up, but the bouzu and Sango both complained."

Kagome laughed, and Inuyasha almost cracked a smile. "Not enough variety for him, and no relief from him for her. Poor things."

"Yep."

For some reason, the rest of the meal managed to pass in comfortable silence. Inuyasha was actually a bit sorry when they both finished and he rose to his feet. "Well, you know the drill, wench. Will you marry me?"

"And you know the answer. Nope, I won't marry you."

"Yep. Good n-"

"Wait."

He paused. Damn. Things were going just fine, and now... "Yeah, what is it?"

"Could we eat out on the pavilion tomorrow? Please?"

Inuyasha really knew he should just dismiss it, but as he formed the words to do so, it occurred to him that he'd rather put up with the hassle of taking her up there than risk making her yell or cry, and the way she was smiling at him, it'd be one or the other. Not worth it...dammit. "Fine, wench. Be ready before the sun goes down."

"Yaaay!" She clapped and beamed at him. "Thank you so much!"

He stared at her in disbelief. "You can't be that easily amused. What's the catch? You gonna jump off and leave me to explain it to Sango?"

Kagome laughed. "No! I'm just looking forward to it." She grinned again and bowed. "Thanks so much, Inuyasha. Good night."

"Feh." And he was gone, willing himself to be grumpy about being forced to take her up there. It worked, of course, like it always did, but he was a bit worried: what would happen if she pulled something like this again, and it didn't work?

A/N: There we have it. I was gonna end on a cliffie, but since I can't update till Wednesday at this rate, this'll have to do for now.

Now, a few reviewer responses:

Mage of Swords: Wow, thanks so much! I'm glad you like it so much already. And I have thought of that, actually. Don't worry, I got it covered. Just wait a bit, and all will be revealed. Good catch. ;D

Dracling: I'm a new author, so no one bothers to click...for now. Mwa ha ha. Thanks for the kind words. And about the guys sweating, I actually was vaguely aware of that, but I don't know enough about it to use it confidently. Besides, Kagome doesn't need pheromones to be attracted to him without a shirt, remember? (Who does? :D) But thanks for thinking to point it out.

kitsunefire: Thanks. I have way too much time on my hands, and I love it. : ) And no blatant grammatical errors are good, especially considering I always type between 1-11 a.m...

CheeseLemon: No, it was actually just after. Weird, ne? But you were close. You can have the e-cookie anyway.

I'm rapidly running out of time, but bazillions of thanks to everyone, especially repeaters like Kagome Sengoku. If I didn't mention you here, I'm sorry! I still love you! I personally hate reading reviewer responses, so I won't do these too often, but then again, I like doing this now that I'm WRITING it, so we'll just see...plus I feel like poo leaving so many people unmentioned. :'(

Eep, must take off now so I can upload and hit the road before traffic! See you Wednesday!