InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bishies Without Shirts ❯ Where does the time go? ( Chapter 32 )

Chapter 32: Where does the time go?

"Kagome!" Inuyasha exclaimed, spinning around on the carpet and racing toward the front door as the sound of the girl's voice reached their ears. Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and tried to sink deeper into the sofa cushions.

"Speaking of ningen women…" he sighed. "I know you're sick in the head, but what ever possessed you to let that human bitch start following you around in the first place? You're only making a bigger fool of yourself, if that's possible."

"Pah!" Inuyasha spat as he stood up on tip-toe to peek out the little window at the top of the front door. "Female youkai scare me. You can never be sure they're not going to hand you your balls when you're through with them, not that I've ever tried…" he muttered in mild annoyance at the fact that Kagome and her mother where taking a ridiculously long time standing on the front step, talking to each other.

"Hmph…" Sesshoumaru chuckled disdainfully, "Only if you're weak, oto-chan. I, personally, have never found them to be-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, you're great…shut up, I'm trying to listen…" Inuyasha interrupted, frowning as he put his ear to the door.

"Cut that out!" Sesshoumaru warned. "In another second, they're going to catch you eavesdropping, and then the whole drama will start all over again, and I don't think I can take it anymore!"

"They're talking about me…" Inuyasha whispered, waving his hand angrily at his older brother in an attempt to silence him.

"I know." Sesshoumaru whispered smugly. "I can hear every word from over here, clear as the sky on a cold winter's night…"

"Shh!" Inuyasha flashed the youkai his serious face as he strained to hear what was being said on the other side of the door. "Something about…cycles…and 'don't forget… one every morning…' Sesshoumaru smiled indulgently at the hanyou, and began to rapidly recite the conversation in its entirety.

"…'Don't forget, take one every morning at the same time, you can't miss a single day, Kagome, or they won't work. This is very important dear, especially if Inuyasha can't be persuaded to wear any other means of protection. Now I'd like you two to try to behave yourselves, but I'm not naïve and I realize that things happen, that's why we made this little trip together…' Shall I continue, oto-chan, or have you heard enough?"

Inuyasha stepped back from the door to lean his body against the wall in the hallway. "There she goes about protection again…" he whispered to himself. "I've got Tetsusaiga, what more does she want?"

"Baka…" Sesshoumaru laughed quietly, shaking his head. "Use your brain for once instead of just your ears. Even you should be able to tell that they're not talking about THAT kind of protection, you imbecile."

"Yes, ok, we all know what you think about my intelligence, Sesshoumaru. You're so much more clever blah blah blah…" Inuyasha sighed dispassionately, "Look, either explain what's going on or please stop talking. Your voice is starting to piss me off."

Thinking that he probably should have chosen the latter, (for wouldn't that have irritated the runt?), Sesshoumaru launched into a rather brief explanation, and mainly because Inuyasha was right; he wouldn't pass up an opportunity to show his superiority.

"She isn't worried about attackers, fool. The woman is protecting her daughter from you." Inuyasha considered this for a moment, looking troubled.

"She doesn't think that I would hurt Kagome, does she?"

"Oh gods, you're so stupid…" Sesshoumaru cursed under his breath. "How do you keep from falling out of those trees?" Inuyasha stared at his brother, his face becoming a blank slate.

"I see your mouth moving again, but all I'm hearing is shit…"

"Don't you remember anything from this morning's conversation?"

"Of course, I heard everything I needed to. Kagome's mine, I get to mate with her whenever I want. Was there something else?"

"I should have known…" Sesshoumaru sighed, shaking his head in disgust. "How can you be expected to retain anything new when you're already so obviously preoccupied with 'yukata goes on the top, hakama goes on the bottom'…I'm talking about herbs, you idiot! Higurashi-san mentioned this morning that there are medicines in this world that can prevent the wegome from conceiving more imbecilic, cross-blood whelps like yourself. There is no doubt in my mind that this is why she kept the wegome from her studies today, to procure some of these herbs."

"Wait…" Inuyasha said, his face turning bright red as what his brother was saying finally started to make sense, "She can't do that!"

"Actually, I think she can. Remember, the agreement that Higurashi-san and I made was for the two of you to be betrothed to one another, and not properly mated as of yet."

"FUCK your agreement! Why the hell do you get to decide whether we breed or not? That's sadistic! If it's left up to you, I'll never sire any pups!"

"Pups?" Sesshoumaru actually laughed out loud. "Oto-chan, if your ningen wench bears you a whelp, there won't be enough Inuyoukai left in it's blood to call it a pup!" Without stopping to think, which Sesshoumaru would claim was pretty typical for the hanyou, Inuyasha advanced on his brother, cracking the knuckles on his right hand into the palm of his left. But the fates can be cruel, or kind, depending upon your point of view, for it was at that exact moment, as Inuyasha was crossing the few feet of carpet that lay between him and the youkai who was about to loose the lower portion of his jaw, that the women finally made it into the house. Inuyasha stopped in his tracks at the sound of the front door opening, and he gave Sesshoumaru a sinister grin.

"oh ho ho, nii-chan…" he laughed under his breath, shaking his head almost imperceptibly, "you are one lucky son of a bitch…"

"Go greet your wench, brother." Sesshoumaru whispered back, an equally twisted smile on his lips. As eager as he was to maim his older brother, Inuyasha did not need a second prompting. After all, nothing made him forget his anger as quickly and as effectively as his woman's soft, clean scent, and at that moment, it had just reached his nose.

"You're back" he said simply and happily, turning around to greet his mate as his brother had cunningly suggested.

"We're back." she agreed, walking up to him and throwing her arms around his neck. He rubbed the palms of his hands up and down those same arms as he kissed her on the nose, welcoming her home.

"Wow." she sighed, smiling up at him. "You are so affectionate lately. What's gotten into you?"

"Don't flatter yourself, girl. He can't help himself." Sesshoumaru said, intruding on their private moment. "The whelp's instincts are making him do it, he really has no choice in the matter. You should have seen what happened when you left earlier, he was literally climbing the walls." Kagome looked over Inuyasha's shoulder at Sesshoumaru and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Who asked you, sour puss?" Purposely ignoring the hateful look she received for her cheeky remark, Kagome turned her attention away from the scowling youkai, to his absolutely adorable baby brother. "You know what? I've changed my mind. I don't care what the reason is." she whispered, gently biting his chin, which prompted a low growl of approval from the hanyou. She secretly congratulated herself for having paid attention to "The Hidden Language of Wolves", which had been on the television in the waiting room at the doctors office. Pulling away before he took her flirtation as a full-blown invitation to copulate right there on the living room rug in front of Sesshoumaru, she slid her arm down his shoulder and onto the center of his chest, feeling the fast, steady thump of his heartbeat beneath her fingertips.

"Whatcha got?" Inuyasha said suddenly when he noticed the small, white paper bag in her other hand. "Anything good?"

"Oh, it's nothing interesting, Koishii." she reassured him, shifting her arm so that her body was between him and the bag. "Just some...vitamins. I have to remember to take them everyday, no matter what, so please don't let me forget." Inuyasha eyed the little white bag suspiciously.

"Vitamins, huh?"

"Yup." she replied, keeping her anxiety hidden just below the surface of her calm exterior, making him even more suspicious. "You want me to stay healthy and strong, don't you, koi?"

"Of course." Inuyasha said, nodding his head in agreement. "You'll have to be strong and healthy to bear my pups." He waited, watching closely for her reaction.

"Oh…I thought you said that you weren't ready for that yet." Kagome said quietly, looking down at her shoes and hiding her hands behind her back, the white bag disappearing from his view.

"I'm not…yet." he said, tilting her chin upward so that she would have to meet his gaze. "I just want to be sure that it's still an option." Kagome sighed in defeat.

"Did becoming my mate make you more perceptive, too?"

"Only when it comes to you, Kagome. What's really in the bag?"

"It's a kind of medicine." she finally admitted. "As long as I take one everyday at the same time, I shouldn't get pregnant. I hope you don't think I was trying to trick you, Inuyasha…but Mama insisted." He shrugged.

"As long as it's not permanent…and she's not forcing you."

"No, no…when we're… ready…, I'll just stop taking them. But in the meantime, it will be one less thing we have to worry about."

"Really?" he said with a sly grin, "And when do they start working?"

"It may take a few weeks for everything to get moving." she replied, laughing when his wicked grin changed into a disappointed frown.

"Not soon enough for my comfort…" Sesshoumaru grumbled from his spot on the sofa.

"Hello boys!" Higurashi-san said cheerfully upon entering the living room. "Well, would you look at this, Kagome! We've been gone for nearly two hours, and I don't see so much as a trace of broken furniture or a bloody nose. You two really did behave yourselves this time!"

"Hai, Higurashi-san." the boys chorused, though Sesshoumaru was brooding again while Inuyasha was practically beaming.

"Well this calls for a celebration." Higurashi-san laughed, a hint of irony in her voice. "I think I'll go make some red rice…" her relieved laughter could be heard resounding throughout the house as she headed for the kitchen to prepare their lunch. Kagome reached up and tugged gently on Inuyasha's left ear, pulling his head lower. Standing up on tip-toe, she whispered into it,

"She'll be busy for awhile…" This started anew the eager thrumming in Inuyasha's chest. Smiling at her with droopy eyes, he followed her out of the room like an obedient spaniel on a leash.

"Where are you two going?" Sesshoumaru demanded, rising up off the couch. "You said a few weeks, Wegome!"

"We're just going upstairs to talk without anybody listening in our private conversations, Sesshoumaru!" the wegome hissed back at him, and it made him wonder if his oto-chan hadn't been mistaken when he had said that youkai women were the more frightening of the two species.

"Why are you wearing that shirt again?" Kagome asked as they ascended the stairs together. "After last night, it really needs to be washed." Without a word, Inuyasha pulled it over his head and threw it over his shoulder, dropping it on the stairs behind him.

"Don't need it anymore, anyway…" he mumbled stupidly, his senses clouded in a dull, pink haze of lust and arousal as she grabbed him by the rosary that would always hang around his neck if she had anything to say about it, and pulled him into the bedroom.

It was amazing how quickly a few well placed nips and nuzzles drove all semblance of rational thought from his mind as instinct took over. He soon found he no longer cared whether the yukata went on top and the hakama on the bottom, because the floor seemed like a much better place for both of them, and they were soon joined by Kagome's sailor fuku, which he had also decided looked better on the floor. Taking the initiative, Kagome rolled him over onto his back and began to trail tiny kisses down his chest and stomach. As she kissed the spot on his stomach right above his navel, she heard a small noise from the corner of the room.

"What was that?" Kagome whispered, freezing in place. Inuyasha sniffed the air.

"It's just Buyo…" he whispered back, pulling her up on to his chest and claiming her mouth with his own. As the kiss deepened, he locked his arms around her back and rolled them over, switching their positions so that he was above her.

"I don't think it will hurt this time." he cooed softly into her neck as his hand reached down beneath the covers to position things properly.

"Mmmm…koi…." Kagome moaned softly as she closed her eyes, her lips slightly parted.

"Oh wait, shit!" he said, stopping abruptly, his eyes widening as he suddenly remembered. "I promised your mother that I wouldn't do this while we were in her house."

"Inuyasha, that's very sweet of you, but she's not up here, is she?" Kagome said quietly, putting a finger to his lips and smiling up at him as seductively as her naivety and inexperience would allow. "There's no one here besides you and me, and I won't tell her if you won't." Inuyasha smiled back at her then, the relief apparent in his face as he lowered himself onto her body once more, and his hand dipped back beneath the covers. They had just found their rhythm together when the small noise was heard again, and this time, it sounded remarkably like a snicker. Inuyasha froze in mid stride, turning his head slowly to the left as tiny icicles of panic ran down his spine. He soon discovered that Buyo had indeed entered the room, but what he hadn't expected to see was the cat napping in the lap of Sesshoumaru, who was sitting at Kagome's desk, watching them both intently.

"What the hell are you doing in here?!" Inuyasha yelped, pulling the sheets up over Kagome's bare torso.

"You left this on the stairs…" Sesshoumaru said innocuously, holding up the rugby shirt by it's collar, "…you messy whelp, I didn't think you wanted Higurashi-san to have to scold you about it later, so I thought I'd bring it to you. That, and I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Get the hell out of here!" Inuyasha cried, half of his mind not believing that this was actually happening.

"Oh, don't mind me, oto-chan. I'll just sit here quietly until you're done." he said before chuckling to himself in a most self-satisfied way. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for this moment?" As furious as Inuyasha was at Sesshoumaru for interrupting, he was even more frustrated with himself. 'Dammit! Why didn't I sense him? Why didn't I smell him when he came in? How did he get so close to the bed without me even noticing?'

As if reading his thoughts, Sesshoumaru spoke mockingly, "You're becoming dull in your complacency, oto-chan. I think you're being domesticated by these humans. Why, if I had been an enemy-"

"Kuso!" Inuyasha spat at his brother. "You ARE my enemy! Now get lost!"

"Oh, Koishii, it's just as well…" Kagome sighed as she sat up, sliding out from underneath the hanyou. "I'm really not supposed to be doing this until my cycle adjusts to the pill anyway. I don't know what I was thinking just now… Oh alright!" she amended when Sesshoumaru shot her a look full of irony, "I wasn't thinking just now…" She was still holding the sheet up against her body, covering herself from Sesshoumaru's inquisitive eyes, but in sitting up, she had unintentionally pulled the rest of the sheet off Inuyasha entirely.

"Alright, oto-chan, I think I've seen enough of your naked body to last me the rest of my lifetime." Sesshoumaru said, turning his head from the distasteful tableau laid out before him. "I'll be waiting in the hall, so hurry up and get dressed, Wegome. I was serious when I said that I need to speak with my brother, and I wish to speak with him alone."

"I hate you." Inuyasha whispered venomously as Sesshoumaru stepped out into the hallway. Sesshoumaru just laughed.

As Kagome went about the business of retrieving her clothing from amongst the random piles that lay strewn about the room, Inuyasha sat on the bed, his chin resting in the palm of his hand, concentrating on a thought. Something that Kagome had said was nagging at the back of his mind, and it was something that her mother had said earlier as well…but what was it? Something about…cycles… 'Cycle…' Inuyasha thought to himself… 'Cycle? Cycle, what about cycles…wait…oh no!'

"What day is it?" he asked out loud.

"Ummm…Tuesday." she answered uncertainly, pulling her panties out from underneath his hakama.

"No, no, what day of the lunar cycle!" Inuyasha asked frantically.

"I'm not sure…let me check my desk calendar…" she said, walking over to the desk, still wrapped in the pink sheet in case Sesshoumaru was peeking in through the doorway. "Uhhh…let's see…." she said, scanning the tiny black and white pages of the desk calendar. "Sheesh, it's been awhile since I've been home long enough to remember to pull some of the sheets off this thing, it's a bit behind… Hmmm, Saturday….Monday…Ah! Tuesday! Tuesday night, there is…oh, it's the new moon, koishii." she said simply, a second before it dawned on her. "Oh dear! Inuyasha?"

"No wonder I didn't smell the bastard…" he was grumbling to himself. "How could I let that slip my mind?! Baka! What an idiot!"

"Don't be so hard on yourself…" Kagome said, sitting down on the bed beside him and putting her arm around his waist. "You've been through a lot in the past few days. That fever alone could have easily thrown you off! It's perfectly understandable."

"Kagome, what am I going to do?" he asked, heaving a sigh.

"It's no big deal, silly!" she reassured him, tousling his hair playfully. "We'll just go back tomorrow, and in the meantime…"

"In the meantime we're stuck in this house with a psychopath that, once the sun sets, I won't be able to protect you or your family from!"

"Inuyasha, I know how things usually are between you and Sesshoumaru, but this situation is, well, different. He hasn't attacked any of us, with the possible exception of you, since he's arrived here, and he's been nothing but respectful to my family. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about." Kagome leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, then got up to continue the search for her clothing. After a few more minutes of silent brooding, he got up and joined her.

When they were both dressed, he kissed her lightly on the mouth and she left him, going downstairs to chat with her mother, leaving the brothers alone to talk. She nodded stiffly to Sesshoumaru as she passed him in the hallway, a little angry but mostly embarrassed. He nodded back, feeling neither, then passed into the bedroom where he found Inuyasha sitting sullenly on the wegome's bed, his hands folded in the sleeves of his yukata, and his feet folded beneath him. For the briefest of instances, with that dour expression on a face that was still years away from developing the strong brow and jaw line of an adult male Inuyoukai, if in fact it ever did so, Sesshoumaru saw his little hanyou half-brother, as he had been more than half a century ago, when he had left the koinu sleeping in the woods and had set out on the long road toward whatever destiny he was to be granted in this life. All these years later…and Inuyasha was still pouting.

"It was for your own good." Sesshoumaru said firmly, though whether he was defending his actions of a few minutes ago, or of sixty-two long years gone by, even he was uncertain.

"Say what you came in here to say, Sesshoumaru." Inuyasha said testily. "I want to go spend time with my mate, and you're keeping me from her."

"How remarkable…that is almost exactly what I wish to speak to you about. As I have mentioned several times before, I have pressing need to return home. I require either yourself or the wegome to bring me there immediately." Inuyasha sighed, shaking his head.

"You wouldn't believe how much I'd like to, Maru-chan, but I'm afraid it's just not possible tonight."

"I see." Sesshoumaru said evenly, trying to maintain the death grip on his waning patience. "And how many more evenings will I be told this same thing? Am I to be held here against my will indefinitely?"

"I don't want you here any more than you want to be here!" Inuyasha snarled. "But I CAN'T tonight, got that? I can't go back tonight, and Kagome sure as hell isn't going back without me, so you're just going to have to wait it out like the rest of us!"

"WHY NOT?!" Sesshoumaru barked. "You've got Higurashi-san's consent, you've mated the wench, you're not sick anymore…why can't we go back now? I've been more than patient!"

"BECAUSE I CAN'T TONIGHT!" Inuyasha yelled. "I just can't and that's that! Why don't you mind your own business, anyway? Will it kill you to stay one more night? I thought you liked it here, there's plenty of stupid people to kiss your ass, you royal piece of shit! Just stay the hell away from me tonight, I'm in no mood to listen to your complaining or your death threats, you arrogant son of a bitch! Just leave me alone!" Inuyasha leapt from the bed and ran out of the room, leaving a slightly stunned youkai standing in the middle of the bedroom wondering what had just happened.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the kitchen, Kagome was setting the table for lunch while pretending to listen to her mother tell a story about some American tourists who had visited the shrine the other day. She wasn't trying to be rude, but her mind was preoccupied with what she and Inuyasha had discovered only moments ago. She wasn't worried about Sesshoumaru, as Inuyasha was, but rather was fixated on a comment that Sesshoumaru had made earlier that day about Inuyasha and his instincts toward her. She wondered if what he had said was true, that the only reason Inuyasha was being so affectionate lately was because his instincts were telling him to. If that was so, then what would happen tonight, when his youkai left him? Would he still be so… enamored with her? She knew that he cared for her, regardless of what form he was in, but without the youkai instincts telling him to stay by his mate, would he still love her as single-mindedly as he had claimed to over the last few nights? Or would his feelings wane with the youkai blood in his body once the sun set? It frightened her that despite all they'd been through together, and especially after last night, that she could still feel doubtful about him. Maybe Inuyasha wasn't the only one who needed to learn faith and trust, after all.

Back upstairs, Inuyasha had locked himself in the bathroom and was refusing to come out. Not that Sesshoumaru was about to plead with him any time soon, but he found it rather irritating, to say the least. When the wegome called them down for lunch, the hanyou refused to open the door. Eventually, the wegome herself came upstairs to try reasoning with him. She begged, she pleaded, she shouted and even tried sitting him a few times, but it was no use. The brat was as stubborn as an ox, and twice as stupid. After half an hour, the wegome gave up on him and they had bid farewell to the bathroom door, going downstairs to eat. As the day wore on into the afternoon, Souta came home from school. The boy immediately rushed upstairs to use the bathroom, only to be sent back downstairs and out into the backyard to use the bushes, as Inuyasha still would not budge. As afternoon turned into evening, and the last few faint rays of sunlight dropped below the horizon, the household was faced with a considerable problem. At some point, someone was going to have to use the bathroom, and no one else besides Souta wanted to resort to using the local shrubbery. After a long, intense discussion involving every member of the household, it was finally decided that Sesshoumaru should be given permission to break the door down.

"Just try not to damage it too much!" Higurashi-san pleaded as the youkai headed upstairs, closely followed by the wegome, who went as moderator to keep the peace, and Souta, who just wanted to see Sesshoumaru break something. When they reached the top of the stairs, Kagome pushed ahead and raced down the hall to get to the bathroom first, trying one last time to coax the hanyou out before the melee ensued. Souta crossed his fingers on both hands, hoping that Inu-niichan would remain as stubborn as ever, so that he could see Sessho-kun in action. He would not be disappointed. Sesshoumaru quickly reached the door in question, and gently pushed the wegome out of his way.

"Inuyasha!" he shouted. "This is you last warning. Will you come out willingly or not?"

"Please, Inuyasha, people really need to use the bathroom!" Kagome pleaded from behind Sesshoumaru.

"Stay in there, Inu-niichan!" Souta called out happily. "Never surrender without a fight!"

"Souta!" Kagome scolded angrily, "Don't encourage him!"

"Are you kidding, nee-chan? This is going to be awesome!" Souta said, looked at his sister like she couldn't possibly be serious, before shouting "He's not answering, Sessho-kun, do it!"

"Very well." Kagome closed her eyes and covered her ears as Sesshoumaru drew pack his fist and then slammed it into the center of the bathroom door, punching a hole right through it.

"Awww…" Souta whined. "I was hoping you'd knock it off entirely, like you did to Kagome's door!"

"I didn't touch that one." Sesshoumaru explained. "That was knocked off it's hinges when I threw the whelp into it."

"Wow, Sessho-kun, you beat up Inu-niichan?" Souta exclaimed, beaming up at his new hero. "You must be really tough! Wow! And you only have one arm, too!"

"Why does it always have to be about violence with you guys?" Kagome exclaimed, frustrated beyond belief at this ludicrous turn of events. "I, for one, am glad that we still have a bathroom door! Does no one else care about their privacy?! It's bad enough that it now has a gaping hole in the middle of it! Speaking of which, I think that'll do, Sesshoumaru. All you have to do now is reach your arm in and turn the knob on his side." Doing as he was bidden, Sesshoumaru stuck his arm in, and after a moment of blind fumbling, found the knob and turned it. When they opened the door, there was Inuyasha, sitting fully clothed in the empty bathtub, glaring angrily at them all. Souta gasped when he saw him, and even Sesshoumaru's eyes widened slightly. The young man sitting before them had black hair. There were no pointy, white dog ears on top of his head and the smoldering eyes that stared back at them were dark violet.

"What?!" Inuyasha snarled defensively, an instant before he became conscious of the fact that he had no fangs to bear at them. For several seconds, they continued to scrutinize him. Finally, Kagome grabbed Souta by the hand and lead him back downstairs, saying "Show's over, show's over!" and planning to explain things to the boy and her mother once they were all safely back in the kitchen.

"So." Inuyasha huffed bitterly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Now you know. Isn't this just great? Well? What the hell are you staring at, stupid? You act like you've never seen a ningen man before." The youkai looked down at the human boy sitting in the empty bathtub and heaved a deep sigh.

"It's been a long time since I've seen this part of you, this face…" Sesshoumaru said quietly. "I'd almost forgotten… You really do look exactly like your ofukuro."