InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Beast ❯ Discovery ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: We all know I don't own Inuyasha and co. And if you didn't, well, you do now. That'll be five bucks.

A/N: Hidey-ho, guys `n non-males (for those of you who think `guys' means only males...I personally apply the term to myself, friends, and pretty much everyone else, but I know not everyone does). And as a side note, I don't have any of this written out already on my computer or anything: I just start typing and upload when I'm done. I even ran out of outline two chapters ago. :'D But I have a pretty good idea of what goes where, so no "Sorry, but I'm tired of this" after five more chapters or anything. No worries, ja?

And while I'm here, big ol' me-style thanks to moonsilver (everyone go read "Trapped" if you haven't already: simple premise plus great writing plus daily Naraku-bashing equals a lot of fun :D), and to everyone else who's reviewed. Now that I'm fresh from raiding my bro's manga collection and his roommate's South Park collection, I feel ready for...

Beast

Chapter 9

Uncomfortable warmth and faint wisps of music prodded Kagome gently out of sleep the next morning, just a few hours before noon. She groggily slid the comforter onto the floor, stretching her legs off the edge of the bed to cool her skin down. "S'hot in here," she mumbled. Shippou was nowhere to be seen, and the hollow next to her pillow was no warmer than the rest of the bed: he'd been gone for a while.

Sango poked her head around the corner of the TV box, and Kagome was not surprised to see that she was wearing the headphones. "Good morning, Kagome-chan," Sango said loudly, forgetting that Kagome couldn't hear the music and didn't need it.

Kagome made a plucking motion on both sides of her head, and the slayer obediently pulled the headphones off, tapping the pause button. "I swear, you're already a Hamazaki addict," Kagome muttered, pulling her hair off her neck. "Why's it so hot in here?"

"I didn't see the need to wake you for it, but there was some excitement earlier." Sango got up and sat down on the bed next to Kagome. "Kohaku found the room where Inuyasha's sword was sealed."

"His sword?" Kagome yawned. "Cool...but why was it sealed?"

In response, Sango leaned over and picked up the laptop, and Kagome watched her unfold it and begin to type, reading and translating to herself as Sango went. During dinner last night, Sango had acquired some ink and drawn the hiragana for A, I, U, E, O, and N onto each respective key to eliminate the need to look up single-character letters.

"Tetsusaiga was forged from his father's fang and has the power to kill 100 demons at a stroke. Inuyasha has missed having it."

"'Kay..." Kagome frowned and scratched her ribs, yawning again. "Why couldn't you just tell me that?"

"Because the sword was sealed as part of the curse. I'm surprised I could tell you it was sealed at all."

"Ahhhh, I get it. I figured he'd have whipped that thing out and tried to chop Kouga into sashimi already if he could've. Bet he's happy."

"Yes," Sango agreed aloud. "Hence our weather." She reached for the headphones. "After we bathe, the houshi-sama and I have a few more things to discuss with you on your comp-"

There was a distant sound, and both women looked up. It came again from a floor above them, sounding suspiciously like a bellowed curse.

Sango pressed stop and put her head in her hands. "Gods. What's wrong with him now?"

Kagome heaved a sigh. "Ugh. Looks like the bath can wait. I think this is probably more important. We'd better go see."

As it turned out, she was extremely right. "What the fucking hell do you want?!" Inuyasha greeted them, brandishing a katana in a sleek black sheath.

"Morning, sunshine," Kagome griped, massaging her ears. "What's your problem? My family can probably hear you right now."

"My problem is whatever the hell someone did to my sword! Look at this!" Inuyasha placed one hand carefully on the hilt, claws overlapping slightly so that he had to adjust his grip to keep from gouging himself, and pulled. Nothing happened. "The worthless piece of scrap iron is stuck!"

"Let me see that." Sango held her hand out.

"What, am I doing something wrong, wench? I've had this damn thing since I was eleven years old, and I know how it works! You hold the damn sheath, pull the damn hilt, and the damn sword comes out! If I missed something, you can tell me! Otherwise, leave me the hell alone!"

"Don't take it out on her, Inuyasha," Kagome snapped. "Maybe whoever sealed it in the room also put something on the sword."

Inuyasha glared at her and sniffed at the sheath, then the hilt. "All I smell are humans, and none of the ones I smell could've put anything on here like the one that hid the room `n the first place. Lucky the spell wore off and the brat found it at all."

"That brat is my brother," Sango pointed out through gritted teeth.

"Oh, yeah. Good for him." Inuyasha tugged a few more times. "Piece of...!"

Kagome chewed her lip as the blade refused to come loose and his language deteriorated. If this kept up, he was going to hurt someone, most likely himself, not to mention the weather would go back to snow and ice. And Sango wasn't looking much better. "Look, Inuyasha, have you asked Miroku? He'd know about spells and stuff, right?"

"BOUZU! YOUR ASS! HERE! NOW!"

Said monk came running, literally, scowling. "Really, Inuyasha, you promised to wait till I was finished to unsheathe the Tetsusai-what is it?"

"Finished what?" Sango snapped, and Miroku studiously ignored her existence for the moment, much less her question.

"Is there any kind of spell on it?" Inuyasha thrust the sheath into Miroku's hands. "Fix it, dammit! I want my sword back!"

Kagome only resisted the temptation to laugh at Inuyasha's sulkiness because he looked ready, willing and able to kill anything at the moment, including Miroku, as the monk shook his head and held it back out to him. "Nothing I can detect to cause any pr-"

"Don't give me that!" Inuyasha snatched the sheath away and shoved it at Sango. "Here, dammit. If you know so much, you fix it!"

Sango examined the sheath thoroughly. "Hmmmm...perhaps it's a twist mechanism. Grab the hilt, would you, Kagome-chan?"

"There's no crap like that with my sword," Inuyasha grumbled, but the slayer paid no attention.

"All right, Kagome-chan, got it?" Kagome took a firm grip on the hilt's soft, well-worn leather and nodded. "Don't pull till I tell y-"

Out of sheer curiosity, Kagome gave a little tug, and the blade slid from the sheath with a gentle whisper of metal scraping metal.

Four jaws dropped, and no one moved for a few seconds. Kagome recovered first, and in her sudden embarrassment, she could only think to do one thing: she grabbed the sheath and nearly shoved the Tetsusaiga back in. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"What the hell did you do?!" Inuyasha grabbed the hilt and yanked to get the whole thing away from her and instead ended up nearly flailing for balance as the rusty, battered katana promptly came free.

"Well, that was easy," Miroku remarked, watching Inuyasha sniff frantically at the sheath, then the blade.

"What the hell happened?!" Inuyasha glared at each of them in turn, reserving the brunt of his wrath for Kagome. "I knew you were some kind of witch! What the hell did you do to my sword?!"

"I don't know! It just came loose! Don't look at me!" Kagome was just as shaken as he was-though she could appreciate that his ego was probably hurt worse than anything else right now. "Even if I somehow made it so you couldn't pull it out, why would I want to? I didn't even know the sword existed till a few minutes ago!"

"She's right, Inuyasha," Sango said firmly. "Whatever the reason, snarling at her for it is fruitless. Do you know what happened, houshi-sama?"

Miroku shook his head. "I'm afraid n-" He stopped, eyes going very wide. The other three stared at him, breathless.

"It's nothing." Miroku smiled, but held up his staff and backed away defensively as they all advanced. "Seriously! I'm not certain why she could do it! I have my suspicions, but the curse-"

"Get out of my sight!" Inuyasha roared, and the monk was only too happy to do so.

Kagome stared at the blade. "Is that thing the Tetsusaiga?"

"Of course it-" Inuyasha broke off and gave the katana a good look for the first time. "WHAT?!"

"Myouga-sama wasn't joking when he said you'd be surprised." Sango frowned. "This is the first time you've been able to get your hands on it, correct?"

"Okay, now I'm confused," Kagome said desperately. "If he's had it since he was eleven..."

"He's had it, but not been permitted to draw it before he was able to properly wield it. This is the first time anyone's seen the blade unsheathed since it was forged, I'd imagine," Sango explained.

"How did this happen?!" Inuyasha held out his arm and gave it a sharp blow with the rusty sword. "What a piece of crap! It wouldn't cut wet paper!"

Kagome just barely remembered not to ask how it was supposed to be able to kill 100 demons at once: she wasn't supposed to know. "So what is this thing, anyway?" she asked him.

"It's part of my dad's fang, s'posed to let me kill 100 demons in one blow, all-powerful, blah, blah, dammit!" The half-breed looked ready to snap the brittle metal in half. "I couldn't kill 100 bugs with this! Someone must've stolen the real one and replaced it!"

"You mean to tell us that the thief also replicated your father's bone and the other elements that make up the Tetsusaiga's sheath?" Sango folded her arms. "Not to mention the blade's scent? Whether you've smelled it before or no, you must be able to tell if that was ever a part of your father or not. Is it?"

Inuyasha took another long series of sniffs. "Yeah," he finally admitted, clenching the hilt. "But why does it look like this?!"

"Ask Myouga, if you can find him." Sango took Kagome by the elbow. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have things to attend to. And try to keep your temper under control. I wanted to go outside again later."

There was a distant rumble of thunder. Both women cast Inuyasha dirty looks over their shoulders as they walked; he was too busy examining the sword and cursing under his breath to notice.

"So much for having a nice dinner outside tonight," Kagome complained, raising her voice over the rain spattering the roof. She hadn't given Inuyasha's secret away, only telling Sango that they were going to need dinner packed into boxes tonight. "I hope he figures it out soon. He can be such a baby sometimes."

"I can sympathize-very little, but just enough," Sango replied, leaning back against the corner of the tub. "There's nothing quite like getting hold of a weapon you've always been forbidden to touch and then discovering it's broken or you can't wield it."

"Are we speaking from experience?"

"Unfortunately."

Kagome sighed. "Yeah...I guess when you put it that way, it makes more sense. Nothing quite like getting a new toy and finding out it doesn't work." She laced her fingers together, turned her wrists inward and began splashing water up through her palms. "So he got the sword once his father died?"

"Right before, yes, after the Inutaisho came back from a huge battle with bad wounds. Inuyasha received Tetsusaiga, and Sesshoumaru-sama was given another sword called Tenseiga. Immediately after their father's death, Sesshoumaru tried to take the Tetsusaiga by force, but the blade forbids full demons from touching it, and so he had to give up. That was another reason he chose to leave here, I think."

"Why did he want Tetsusaiga if he had his own sword?" Kagome marked down another reason to hate Sesshoumaru: Tried to take father's legacy from 11- year-old brother.

"Because Tenseiga cannot kill, or even wound." Kagome stopped playing with the water and looked up in surprise. Sango nodded. "It has the power to restore life, 100 lives with a single stroke. But he had no use for such a thing, he apparently said, and when he found that he was not going to be able to possess Tetsusaiga, it was more than he could bear."

"Wow." Kagome idly noted that she needed to write this stuff down and publish it or something. It'd make a great novel...or what people would think was fiction, anyway. "So why couldn't Inuyasha play with Tetsusaiga before the curse hit?"

"His mother was making him train with regular swords and learn control, technique and discipline before he started with the Tetsusaiga," Sango replied. "Iyazoi-sama was always like that: very gentle, but gods help you if she made a decision you didn't like, because her word was law."

Kagome laughed. "I would've loved to meet her." Suddenly something hit her. "Wait. If she was there when K-"

Sango lunged across the tub and clapped a hand across her mouth. "Don't say that name aloud!" she hissed. "The houshi-sama told me why last night, and you're lucky I just remembered! Do not say anything till we can explain it more fully!"

It was a good five minutes before Kagome opened her mouth again, even when the slayer retreated to her side of the tub. "Okay..." Sango glanced at her. "Sorry, Sango-chan. So if his mother was alive when...she died, she was still alive when the curse hit?"

"Can't tell," Sango answered shortly. "I once asked Inuyasha about...something related, and he nearly took my head off."

"Gotcha. Let's go back to the laptop and see if we can find Miroku, shall we?"

But the monk was nowhere to be found, and even with Shippou's help and several servants enlisted to help locate him, they finally had to give up soon after lunch. "I'll kill him," Sango grumbled, tapping irritably on the space bar. "Ten thousand silver says he's holed up somewhere in the woods with company."

Kagome decided against calling Sango out on blatant jealousy and rummaged through her things instead. "It's raining too hard for much of anything right now, so let's see if I have something else for us to do in here...aha!" She triumphantly pulled out a small, rectangular package. "Thank God for cards!"

"Cards?" Shippou grabbed the box and smelled it, then shook it. "What's this?"

Kagome lifted the flap and slid the deck out. "Cards. See?" She flipped the stack upside down and thumbed through, showing them the numbers and pictures. "The numbers go from 2 to 10, then there are jacks, queen, kings, aces, and all of these in four suits."

It took quite a bit more explanation, but finally they began to understand what she meant, and Sango asked what their purpose was.

"You use them to play games. They're a bit like dice, but you don't have to gamble with them. Everyone from children to old men plays with these." Kagome began shuffling the deck, showing off a bit, and her two listeners were suitably impressed. "Let me teach you a few easy ones, and then we can get to my favorites."

This was easier said than done, but once they picked up Go Fish, which Shippou proved surprisingly adept at, Kagome proposed something a little more difficult. Both her friends, initially hesitant, soon caught on so well that she very nearly failed to notice when it was almost for dinner.

"Four aces," Sango declared, laying her last four cards face-down with a slight smirk.

"BS!" Kagome protested, then groaned as the slayer grinned. "You can't be serious!" She reached over and turned up the edges. "Aaaah, crap!"

"Sango wins again," Shippou said with a yawn, toying with his six cards and watching Kagome scoop the rest of the deck into her already full hand. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for dinner or something, Kagome?"

"CRAP!" Kagome leapt to her feet. "I completely forgot! Thanks, Shippou-chan!"

"Don't you need any help?" Sango asked, piling all the cards into a single deck awkwardly as Kagome raced around the room, grabbing things at random from the trunks they'd forgotten to put back in the other room.

"No, I want to do this myself, thanks," Kagome panted. "Show me where the kitchens are, would you?"

Inuyasha spotted Kagome and Sango emerging from the kitchens several minutes later, carrying two large boxes. "Oi! What're you wenches doing?"

"Getting ready for dinner," Kagome replied. "I'm not late, am I?"

"Hell yes, you're late! The sun's almost down!" Inuyasha made as if to grab her arm, then checked himself at the last moment, scowling at his own slip. "C'mon, hurry up and follow me. Assuming you don't mind getting wet."

"Of course not." Kagome thanked Sango quickly, taking the second box from her and setting off after Inuyasha, who was walking almost faster than she could run.

"So what's in the boxes, wench?" He slowed just a bit as she caught up.

"It's a surprise. I made some of it," she answered, pausing as one box began to slip from underneath her arm.

"Lazy weakling." Inuyasha plucked it out of her grasp and sniffed at it. "Weird. Tell me this isn't what we're both gonna have to eat?"

"You don't have to eat anything you don't want to." Kagome shrugged. "If you wanna go hungry, that's fine by me."

"Feh. See if I ever do you any favors again." Inuyasha said nothing further as he led her past their usual dining room and further into the third floor than she'd ever been. Knowing she was on thin ice already, Kagome kept quite as they passed several more rooms that she would've loved to stop and explore. One in particular gave her an eerie feeling, as if something was telling her to stay away and come in at once. She would have shuddered, but Inuyasha glanced back at her as they passed it, and she quickly pretended nothing had happened.

They finally stopped just outside a tiny side door that would've escaped Kagome's notice had she been alone. Inuyasha pushed it open and motioned for her to go first.

Kagome stepped out into the dying sunlight and threw her free arm up to block the glare. There were still a few clouds out, but the warm air smelled like damp earth and rain, definitely more appealing than the slightly stale atmosphere inside. As her eyes adjusted, Kagome saw that this balcony must've been constructed specifically for moments like this: the sun, sinking towards the horizon, stained the sky crimson, pink and golden orange, and the colors dotted the ocean of trees surrounding the castle with a brilliant but rapidly receding sheen. "Damn, I wish I had a camera..." she murmured.

"Quit gawking, wench." Inuyasha's voice shattered her peaceful awe, and she flipped him off without looking at him, knowing he didn't know its significance. "I'm guessing that hand thing doesn't mean, `Sure, you're right,' so hop on and you'll see what I mean."

Startled, she turned around, and he took her box, stacked it on his, and crouched. "C'mon, hurry up and get on or you'll miss it."

"Get on...you?" she repeated stupidly. There was his back, and he was glaring at her, but-

"Yes, me. On my back. Unless you think I'm gonna drop you, of course?" His glare deepened, and he began to rise.

"No! You just surprised me, that's all." She carefully stepped over to him, hesitated, and settled her arms around his neck, thankful that his hair provided a thick cover between his back and her front. She hadn't ridden piggyback since her dad took her on runs through the park when she was very small, and this was not her father. For one thing, hair or no, she could feel enough to know that her dad had never been in shape like this...

Inuyasha tensed a little as she got comfortable, sniffing a little before he could stop himself. Aside from some fairly pleasant food odors, all she gave off was her own scent, no fear. Good.

"Hold on tight, wench." That was all before his right arm came back to grip her lightly across the waist, boxes balanced on his other hand, and Kagome felt the muscles under her body jerk-and weightlessness.

A sharp gasp was all she got out before her throat closed up. She reflexively buried her face in his white hair, gripping his shoulders with her upper arms and grasping her wrists in each hand, fists pressed below his throat to keep from strangling him. She could feel his chest rumbling in amusement, but the arm across her lower back kept her steady as the feeling of floating eased off, replaced by the gradual heaviness of rapid descent, and her stomach pitched as Inuyasha landed with a light thud.

"There we go. Wasn't so bad, was it?" He released her waist and bent down to set the boxes on the rain-soaked ground-and coughed as something pressed against his throat. "Hey, Kagome? You can get off now."

"Uh...yeah," she mumbled, willing each finger to unlock one by one and forcing her arms apart, feet shaky and stomach upside down from the unexpected trip. "You could've warned me, you know. I almost barfed in your hair."

"Don't tell me I smell that bad," he drawled, watching sardonically as Kagome settled down, head between her knees. The ground was still damp from the storm, but she really didn't care.

"Don't give me the `I suck' spiel again," she muttered at the ground. "I just get motion sick sometimes."

"Well, see if that helps any." She squinted up at him to follow where he was pointing, and her eyes widened.

If the sunset had been picturesque on the balcony, the view from the little pavilion they stood (or sat) upon now was breathtaking. Not only the forest, but the castle's green roof and outer grounds were all patterned with golden red from the sun's last rays, raindrops and puddles transformed into tiny sparkles to complete the effect. It was better than any movie or postcards or anything she'd ever seen.

Inuyasha smirked at her expression. "See? Can't see it like this anywhere else unless you got wings or somethin'."

"Wow," she breathed, forgetting about her upset stomach and the lingering heat in her cheeks from inadvertently hanging on Inuyasha. "You were right. This is incredible."

They remained silent till the sun was almost gone and the shadows had crept over the entire castle. Kagome could barely see her hand in front of her face. "Shoot, I forgot to bring any lights."

"And that's why you're not in charge," Inuyasha's voice muttered to her right. "Hold still, wench. You're pretty close to the edge."

Kagome obediently remained seated, listening to scraping, clattering of wood and a snap of fingers, and light suddenly flared to her right. "Done," Inuyasha said from between two torches, set in small braziers. "Let's hurry this up, wench. I'm starving."

Shaky as her hands still were, Kagome insisted upon bringing out the small jugs of tea - she had `accidentally' forgotten his sake - and then a huge, steaming carton of...something...from each box. "I had some of this in my bag, from when I took my brother camping in the woods," Kagome said, handing him one carton and some chopsticks. "It's called ramen. It's mainly noodles and flavoring, nothing you've never seen before, probably." She opened her packet of beef powder and sprinkled it into her carton, stirring the mess around gently and blowing on it before grabbing a few strands and gulping them down.

Inuyasha watched the process narrowly, then aped her and regarded the noodles with undisguised amazement. "I'll be damned...this is great!" He began shoveling them into his mouth as fast as he could.

"Lovely." She ate at her own pace, sipping her tea from time to time and enjoying the air as it cooled slightly. Soon the moon came out, and its near-full light was sufficient for even Kagome to see without the torches.

"Wow," she said again, looking out at the grounds and forest in the eerie new light. "I had no idea everything looked so nice out here at night. You must hate being cooped up with me inside every night-besides the fact that you're stuck with me, of course."

Inuyasha snorted, but took no further advantage. "You think I never sneak out afterwards? I used to do it all the time and run around after dark when I was a kid. Drove the servants crazy, and it pissed the guards off like you wouldn't believe, but Dad didn't care, so no one could do anything about it. I think Fluffy did the same thing sometimes, `specially after I was born."

"What happened to his mother, if you two were just half-siblings?"

"Questions again?" He raised an eyebrow at her, but the ramen seemed to have put him in an affable mood. "She was a dog demon like Dad. Think she got killed in battle a couple hundred years before I was born."

"So..." Kagome trailed off and set her carton down with about a third left. Inuyasha paused long enough to eye it, and she pushed it forward. He emptied his carton, dropped it into one box and grabbed hers. She waited for him to nearly finish before speaking again. "What was your dad like?"

Red eyes immediately pinned her with a glare. "Why the fuck would you care?"

"Because you know about my family...probably too much...and I'm curious about yours." She gazed back at him steadily. "If I ever agreed to marry you, it'd be a case of sudden insanity, not because I was impressed by your family connections. Got that? I just want to hear about it."

"Then ask Sango or the bouzu."

"I want to hear it from you," she said simply.

Inuyasha snorted, mumbled something under his breath she didn't catch, and slurped the rest of the noodles down. Then he folded his arms into his wide sleeves, turning to stare at the forest. Kagome sighed internally. No dice, huh? Well, at least he's still here. Getting stranded out here would be just great.

Well...for the moment, actually, it wouldn't be so bad. Everything was so calm and clear and peaceful; the forest's blackness seemed more of a sleepy, tranquil darkness than the kind that hides monsters, and there were no city lights, no sisters snoring...no cats, no little brothers, no dads...

To her horror, a wave of homesickness suddenly hit Kagome, and her eyes stung. Where did this come from?! Stop that! Bad me! Bad! But the half- serious mental scolding didn't help, and she swallowed hard a couple of times. When that didn't help, either, she swiped at her eyes discreetly, grateful that she was upwind of Inuyasha.

"Dad was Lord of the Western Lands."

Kagome stopped mid-swipe and glanced at him. "Hmmm?"

"Like I said, he was a dog demon. Biggest and most powerful around, but really old. He used to rule the Western Lands." Inuyasha stole a glance at her. "There. Happy?"

Nuts. He noticed. Kagome looked away. "Yeah, thanks."

"No, you're not. What's wrong now?"

Damn! "I just got homesick for a second. Don't ask me why, `cause I don't know."

"If you say so."

Long pause, not as peaceful as before.

"Inuyasha?"

"What?"

"...Why do you hate me asking questions so much?"

"Why ask why? It's annoying. I don't have to tell you every detail of my life. Besides, like I said, you might screw things up by figuring everything out."

"Oh. Okay. That makes sense."

By now, she had figured out what had brought the homesickness on, and it wasn't homesickness for the shrine, or anyone in it. "Smells are so stupid."

"What was that?"

"I read somewhere that smell is the sense that brings up the strongest memories, or makes `em stick the most. Something like that. That rainy, earthy smell is kinda like...bad memories. It just took me back somewhere I didn't want to remember for a minute." Kagome stretched out on her back and looked up at the stars, wondering at how many of them there were. The shrine had too many trees and the city too much light for her to have noticed before.

"Yeah, it happens. After Dad croaked, Mom forbade anyone from ever going in his room. That way she could go in for years afterwards, sleep in there and feel like..." He trailed off. "I dunno."

"Same here. Except..." Kagome also couldn't finish.

She heard something strange from her right and propped her head up on one elbow. "Did the great and grumpy Inuyasha-sama just laugh?"

"Shaddup, wench. I was just thinking of the time Mom's husband came back for her."

"No way!" Kagome sat up. "Your mom was married before-"

"Before, during and after. Some dickweed called Takemaru got her when she was sixteen, and Dad had known her since she was a kid. He always liked humans, `specially as he got older, and she said he used to play with her, watch out for her, all that happy crap. So when this dipshit pushed her father into arranging marriage..."

"Your dad wasn't too happy?"

"Hell no. Probably would've killed him if Mom wasn't so attached to him. What is it with you women and your fathers, anyway?"

"Feminine weakness?"

He chose not to respond to that, and Kagome mentally awarded him five points. "Anyway, it was too late by then, and her father was pretty powerful, but not so powerful that he could keep Dad from getting what he wanted. Didn't help that Mom wanted it, too, so pretty soon after she moved into the dumbass's castle, she got me. Except right before she was due, Dad took her and holed up in here."

"Oooooh..." Kagome could just see it. "What'd the husband do?"

"Well, after he got through figuring everything out and sent a letter off to her dad telling him his daughter had become a demon's whore, they got the bright idea that the only way to fix things was to take her back by force."

"Oh, boy. Bet that was fun."

"For everyone here, maybe, except Mom and the maids she brought with her. There were a lot of demon servants back then, and even they were stronger than the human soldiers who came up and demanded Mom back. S'not like there wasn't a demon army here, too..."

"Slaughter?"

"Yeah. But the little shit who started it in the first place got away."

"Awwww, man..."

"I agree. But I saw him again when I was five."

"Oh, really?"

Inuyasha was enjoying the conversation so much that he didn't realize he was talking about something he'd never related to anyone before. "Yep. He snuck around the back somehow...used some talismans or something to hide his scent. He had this big idea that if he just found Mom alone, he could kill her and everything would be okay."

"Pfffft."

"See, even you get it. He didn't. He came up and saw me with Mom, and started calling her..." His voice hardened. "All sorts of shit. To her face. He wasn't that nice to me, either, but....Well, I was old enough to have ripped his throat out already, but Mom didn't let me. I thought she was being too nice...that scrawny, pit-faced, lame-ass excuse for a human just kept going and going, but then I smelled Dad coming."

Kagome risked a glance over at Inuyasha. He was wearing a savage grin. "I won't give you nightmares or anything, but after he called in the servants to clean it up, no one called my mother a whore again, even behind her back, till a few years after he died."

"I bet." Kagome smiled. "Can you imagine my dad ripping anyone to pieces to defend my honor? I love him, but..."

"But he couldn't tear up a piece of paper." Inuyasha snorted. "Another reason you should be glad you're here. If anyone bugs you, I'll just kick his ass."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "And if someone is already bugging me?"

Inuyasha growled low in his throat. "The wimpy wolf won't do anything. He's all talk."

"I dunno about that. He seemed pretty serious."

"Well, if he really pisses you off, I'll get the bouzu to suck him up or something."

"Why, thank you. Should I call you Dad?"

"Gods, no! Don't put me on the same level as him!"

Kagome sighed. She was getting used to it, but it still stung a bit. "I know he's not very bright. He's still a good person, a lot better than most people who're smarter than he is."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

Kagome yawned. "I wish I had a cool story like that. My parents just met in college."

"College? The hell is that?"

"School, education." Kagome smiled. "They got married right after graduation, and Mom stayed at home when she started having us. You'd have approved. She never got a job, especially once Dad started making lots of money."

"Good. S'good for a kid to have a good mom around."

"Yeah...yeah, it is." Kagome pinched herself as hard as she could to keep tears at bay. "And yet you think I should treat Shippou like a toy."

"I didn't say that, dammit. I just think you don't need to spoil him so much. He's always been a pain in the ass as it is, and now..."

"I was raised with lots of love, and if I ever have kids of my own, that's what I'm giving them, and Shippou is no different, so pffft on you."

Inuyasha yawned. "Shut up."

"Good comeback." Kagome also yawned. "Stop it. Those are contagious."

Inuyasha glared at her lazily, yawning again. "I will if you do."

Kagome pushed herself up. "Sure, then." She frowned. "Random thought...where was Miroku today after you yelled at him?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Dunno. Ask the maids."

"Right." She watched the moonlight pick out little threads of silvery white on his hair. "Hey, mind if I find something out real quick?"

"What's that?" He scowled at her suspiciously.

"Just hold still for a second." His ears twitched as she got up, crossed the little space between them and knelt next to him. "Permission to touch your hair?"

"My hair?!"

"Yep." Kagome lightly picked up a lock on his back. "This won't hurt a bit..." She held it up with one hand, threaded her fingers through it, and let it go gently. "Okay, that was all. Thanks."

"What the...do you enjoy violating my personal space?" He shuffled away a few steps, glaring at her all the way.

"Most of the time." Kagome covered another yawn with the back of her hand. "Only when it doesn't involve me getting launched into the air and getting motion sickness. Otherwise, yep, it's pretty fun."

"Feh. Glad you're enjoying yourself." Inuyasha stood and scratched the back of his neck irritably. "Come on, time to go back inside."

"Same way we came?"

"Of course. But only if you don't get sick all over me."

"Oh, you're no fun. Don't worry, I'm ready for it this time, so I should be fine."

"Good. I hate the smell of vomit." Inuyasha crouched.

"Downright poetic, aren't you?" Kagome climbed on after only a moment of hesitation. "What about the boxes?"

"Eh. I'll get `em later." Both his arms came back to support her, and he leapt into the air.

This time Kagome was able to enjoy the brief flight, pulling herself up and leaning over as they rose over the castle and all the grounds, then looking up and back at the moon before the sudden drop made her yelp and grab for his shoulders.

"Choking me again, wench." He crouched and waited for her to slide off before standing up.

"Sorry. But that was fun. Could we do it again sometime?" Kagome smoothed her hair back, enjoying the wind before they headed back inside.

"Maybe. Probably not. Now come on."

The walk back down was uneventful, and Kagome didn't even realize he was still with her till they were outside her door. "Wait...why-"

"Question, wench."

"Oh, yeah. Shoot."

"Will you marry me?"

"Nope, I won't marry you. My dad won't have to come after us with a pitchfork or anything."

"That'd be the day. Night, wench."

"Night, you." She watched him walk back up the stairs and pondered how to go about getting him to let her brush his hair: like a dog's fur, the outermost layer was tough and coarse, but underneath, everything else felt more like silk. Sango was already asleep in their room, though, and Shippou didn't need to hear about it, so she fell asleep listening to the little fox ramble and to the CD that Sango had left on when she fell asleep.

A/N: Eeeep, sorry! Sorry! Late, I know. But life gets in the way, especially when your little sis just got her graduation money and you have to play chauffeur and help her go spend it, then get distracted constantly aaaall daaaay...

This was an easygoing chapter for more than one reason: next time, we get Into It. (Dun dun DUN.)

And as a general note, if you're having trouble uploading stories, just register/log in and look at the numbered steps on your screen. It should tell you what to do. Yeah. Going to sleep now...see y'all in a few (days at the very very most).