InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Inuyasha and Kagome: After the Jewel ❯ The Love That Binds Us ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

DISCLAIMER! The usual, I don't own Inuyasha or anything Inuyasha related, etc. No lawyers.
On second, I took inspiration from The Lucky Ones (and I can't remember the author of that fic or I would link it) for the inu-youkai speech, and how Inuyasha treats his pups. I hope that author doesn't take offense, I tried to make it more original but I didn't do an outstanding job at it and if you do take a offense e-mail me or flame me whatever and I'll edit it out entirely or kick my lazy brain into over drive and make it truely original.

Now on with the fic!



On one of their many visits to the modern era, so the twins could see their grandparents, Inuyasha happened to overhear a conversation not meant for his hanyou ears. He had come later, some business with a bothersome snake youkai in the mountains north of Kaede's village. He was climbing out of the well when he heard it. Mama Higurashi showing some visitors around the shrine. Akita and Shiba were helping he could hear. He grinned. Infact it sounded like his pups were doing most of the tour. And whatever couple had come to visit were quite taken with them.

Then Kagome's voice joined the group. Inuyasha couldn't emerge yet, he was dressed in his haori and hakama, and he had no ballcap to hide his canine appendages. They were talking about the pups, how darling they were, how polite they were and how stunning their features were. 'Blah blah blah. Heard it all before.' Inuyasha 'Keh'd' softly. Then the talk turned sour. Inuyasha's face fell, as it did everytime this situation happened. Which was quite often.

"And where is the father?" the old woman asked, curiously eyeing the spot on Kagome's finger where a ring should be. "He passed away a few years ago." Kagome said, by now playing the part of a sad, and lonely widow just perfectly. The woman clicked her tongue skeptically. "And you don't wear your wedding band? To honor his memory like a good wife?"

Inuyasha heard Kagome pause and it made him growl, his protective instincts were aroused. He wanted to run out there and shake that lady roughly by the shoulders while screaming that Kagome WAS married to a man who loved and honored her deeply.

"He was a lecher." Kagome said. "And I'd rather disassociate with him." Kagome recovered quickly. The woman was still skeptical. "Hm. But just a moment ago you were playing the role of sad, abandoned widow just perfectly. You should be commended for your acting skills."

Kagome flushed angrily, gripping her palms so hard that her nails left marks. Akita and Shiba began to growl quietly, irritated that this woman was causing their mother pain.

Inuyasha smirked. 'Good pups.' he thought proudly.

The woman lifted an eyebrow.

"Why don't we go see the gardens and Kagome can go give the twins lunch!" Mama Higurashi suggested cheerfully, forcefully leading the elderly couple away before a fight could escalade.

The false cheerfulness in his mother-in-law's voice pained Inuyasha. She still didn't approve. She was tired of lies. Tired of making excuses. She did it because she loved her daughter, but Inuyasha knew the talks that went on behind his back. Mama dearly wanted Kagome to remain in this era, without him, and marry somehow satisfactory like Hojo. But Kagome would never leave their babies, and the last time Mama had suggested it she had stayed in the fuedal era with him for two entire months before deciding to be forgiving. Inuyasha had felt a little proud, that she loved him that deeply, and a little scared. What if HE had ever made her that mad? Two months without Kagome? He deeply pitied her family for once.

But as usual Mama made him doubt himself. 'Am I good enough for Kagome?' he thought, slipping into brooding melancholy as he slipped out of the well house and darted for the house. With the grace and practiced ease of having done the leap a thousand times before Inuyasha climbed Goshinboku and leapt through Kagome's open window. His clothes were out on the bed, along with his ballcap. Inuyasha sighed heavily. 'What do I do to deserve such a woman?' he wondered, hurriedly pulling on his modern jeans and t-shirt.

When he got downstairs Kagome was making ramen for the pups, a bowl was already set aside for him. Again he marveled at how he'd been blessed with such a woman. She didn't even know when she was gonna be back!

"Otou!" Akita cried, leaping up to hug his father. Shiba did not give his father a greeting, just guzzled his noodles. Kagome greeted him with a hug, and a quick kiss before pulling back and eyeing him critically. "Inuyasha? What's wrong?" she asked softly, concern filling those dark brown eyes of hers that he loved so much. "Nothing." he grumbled, patting Akita on the head and gently shoving him to sit with his brother.

Kagome frowned. 'He's got that brooding expression again. Something IS bothering him. Damnit. He was probably in the wellhouse earlier.' After being mated to the hanyou for so many years she was finally becoming able to read him like a book. And there was one thing that could make him clam up like this.

He was doubting their future and regretting their past.

And there was only way of making him forget it.

"Souta, watch the pups, er, children for me for a bit, okay?"

Souta, now a teenager, walked out of the living room and nodded. "Sure thing, sis. Hi kids!"

"Uncle Souta!" Akita shouted, clapping his pudgy hands with glee. Shiba looked up once, blinked, and continued eating.

With the pups entertained Kagome took Inuyasha's hand and lead him out of the house.

There was a quiet place behind the shrine they liked to go to to be alone. There was a bench back here, and a fish pond where hungry koi constantly thrashed against the surface. And there weren't many perfumed flowers, so it was bearable for Inuyasha to be here and not get crabby and complain about the scents suffocating him.

Inuyasha followed dumbly. He was working up his resolve. 'I'll go.' he thought. 'I'll go and take the pups with me. Give her her life back, let her forget all her obligations. I'll take the pups back to the sengoku jidai. We'll survive.. Somehow.' But not happily. Kagome was his light. His sun, moon, stars, oxygen.. Everything vital and precious to him, she was in there somehow.

He was jerked from his thoughts when she shoved him onto the bench. Then she stood infront of him, arms crossed, jaw set in a firm line, and her eyes demanding. "Allright. Spill."

Inuyasha looked away.

Kagome sighed and sat down beside him, leaning into his shoulder. "I can guess what happened. You heard all that earlier, you were in the wellhouse."

Inuyasha didn't correct her so she continued.

"You heard Mama sigh, and put on her fake happy face. You heard me get angry, you-"

"You smelled sad." Inuyasha cut her off suddenly. He stood up and walked away, his head bowed, eyes closed. "You smelled sad. And I realized what I keep you from, by caging you in my world. Here you have every convenience, the love of your family, your mother, grandfather and brother. And because of me you bring them pain, inconvenience, and they bear it because they love you and try to accpet me because you love me. And I just can't help but feel that if I left, and took the pups you would have a better life. You could marry Hojo, and live normally. With modern magic, and normal babies.."

Inuyasha trailed off, his voice becoming more and more hushed as he went on.

A single tear trailed down Kagome's cheek. How many more times would they have to go through this?!

"Inuyasha.." she said softly, standing up and joining him. She stood behind, clasping her arms around his shoulders. She had to tiptoe to do so, he was taller than her. She buried her face in between his shoulder blades.

"I smelled sad because I felt sorry for that old woman. Her time left on earth is precious, and she was wasting it critisizing me for appearing to be a teenaged mother of two with no father and apparently something to hide. I was sad because the twins had to hear that there are such people in the world. I was sad because people are so stupidly prejudice in this modern era against hanyous, and magic, that were we to go waltzing down the street hand in hand I'd be chucked into an asylum and you would be used for medical experiments."

Kagome paused for a moment.

"Did you smell any regret on me, my love? If I had never been through the well, and I never wish that I hadn't, ever, I know my life would be incomplete. I would never be truely happy as I am now. If I let you leave me and take my babies, and I marry Hojo like my mother wants. I know I will regret. And every hour I will sob because you left my side, and I'll never see my babies again. I love YOU Inuyasha. I love OUR children and I am THANKFUL and pray everyday because we have such a GREAT life together."

Again Kagome paused to let these words sink in. But she wasn't finished, not quite yet.

"And if it all had never happened, if I had never gone looking for Buyo in the wellhouse that day, and I had gone on to graduate and marry Hojo without ever having met you I know there would be something missing in my life. I would be one of those miserable stay at home mothers who's lives are lacking something, and it would be maddening because I wouldn't know what it is. I would have everything, and yet not, because I wouldn't have you."

'There. I've said it. Now hopefully he'll stop this silliness.' she thought, looking at him softly.

Inuyasha was not a creature of many emotions. But hearing the love of his life say those steadfast words of devotion.. It moved him. His emotions trembled, his heart fluttered. "Kagome." he muttered, whirling in her embrace to clutch her to his chest. "Aishteru." he whispered, nuzzling into her hair and breathing her scent in deeply. "Aishteru." he repeated. "Aishteru." Kagome replied, planting a soft kiss on his lips.

Inuyasha and Kagome were getting pretty comfy on the ground when a large scream ripped the air.

"EEEE! KAGOME! INUYASHA!" a frantic voice, easily recognisable as Souta's. Inuyasha groaned and rolled over with a curse. "Damn pups." Kagome looked equally put out, smoothing her rumpled clothes as she stood up. "Well, we better hurry and see what's wrong.." 'Ten minutes!' she thought exasperatedly. 'We've only been out here TEN MINUTES! And all hell breaks loose.'

Inuyasha swept her up and darted towards the house. "I guess we'll just have to pick up where we left off later." he promised softly, grinning at her devilishly. She smacked him playfully. "Hentai." "And you love it, bitch."

The conversation couldn't continue, they were at the house and Inuyasha deposited his mate gently on the ground. Then both rushed into the house and found... A battle-zone.

"Hello, Onee-chan, Nii-chan." Souta said, taking a wild stab at appearing calm as he swung back and forth. His legs were bound with video game controller cords and he was hanging from the ceiling. His face was liberally tattooed with marker ink and there was peanut butter all over his face where the twins had obviously tried to feed him. Or maybe just stick his jaws shut so he would be quiet. The two trouble makers were no where in sight. But that didn't matter, Inuyasha could smell them.

'Damn.. This is by far the funniest thing those two have done.' Inuyasha thought, trying hard to hold back a smirk. Souta noticed. "Oh sure, laugh. Go ahead. I'm sure this looks pretty darn funny to you two standing there on the ground, but I'm feeling woozy and Inuyasha you're nearest so if I decide to hurl I'm gonna make damn sure most of it lands on you."

That wiped the smirk off Inuyasha's face.

Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes, but still, she too had to hold back a giggle. "Inuyasha, where are the pups?" "Upstairs closet, I can smell them." "Okay. I'll get them, and you get Souta down."

"My pleasure, love." Inuyasha said, flexing his claws. Souta squeaked.

"Eh, on second thought, Inuyasha tend to your children and I'll get my brother down. Those things were expensive."

Inuyasha looked only slightly put out, but did as he was told.

He could hear the pups snickering as he neared the closet. Normally he would of played some sort of game, like 'Where's the pups?!' before flinging open the door, grabbing both of them and tickling them into a coma. But today they had done wrong, and Souta could of been seriously injured.

He threw the door open, his amber eyes hard with fury.

"PUPS!" he snarled, "Did you do that to, Uncle Souta?!" he demanded, his eyes blazing.

The pups wilted beneath their father's wrath. Cuddling up to eachother and cowering in sheer terror. "No!" Akita squeaked. "Jaken did it!" Shiba added a minute later. "He came through the well, Otou! He did that to Uncle Souta and locked us up here!"

'As amusing as that was. I. MUST. NOT. LAUGH.' Inuyasha thought forcefully. Luckily, though the years with Kagome had mellowed him considerably it was still easier for him to show anger than love, or happiness. His life of hardship had insured that.

/PUPS!/ he snarled, this time in the canine language of the inu-youkai. /PUPS NEVER LIE TO PACK LEADER!/

The twins rolled over on the ground in submission, their little ears flattened against their head.

/Pups sorry! Pups sorry! Won't do again!/ they whimpered in unison, not daring to look their father in the eye.

Inuyasha let them grovel until they began to get worried.

Akita was the first to whine worriedly. /Pack leader still love pups?/ he asked, daring to glance timidly into his father's face.

Inuyasha wouldn't look at him, just stood staring harshly in another direction with his arms crossed across his chest.

Shiba looked up. "Otou? Daddy? OTOU!" he cried, fat tears beginning to slide down his face.

Though it was breaking his heart to do so Inuyasha continued to look away, even going as far as to take a step in the direction of the stairs.

The pups both wailed piteously.

"OTOU! WE SORRY! WE NEVER DO IT AGAIN! OTOUUU!"

/Pups quiet./ Inuyasha snarled, turning to face them.

The twins fell quiet instantly.

/Pups be good. Never do that again./

/Pups good! Good pups!/

/Go see pack-mother./

Still sniffling the twins scampered down the stairs and into the arms of their mother. Kagome had heard the commotion upstairs, and knew what it meant. Inuyasha had threatened the pups with banishment. She had been downstairs crying. She hated hearing her babies threatened like that. But with Inu-youkai babies it had to be done. Inuyasha had told her that pups that didn't get the discipline grew up horribly unruly, and anti-dominant and tried to kill their parents constantly. And for the safety of the pack the unruly pups had to be killed. Inuyasha had told her flat out that he would rather scare them that badly than kill them someday. She had whole-heartedly agreed.

But still, she couldn't help sobbing softly as she snuggled her babies.

After a few minutes she pushed them away. The look of terror in their eyes broke her heart, and her gaze softened. They relaxed some. "Now pups," she began sternly. "You need to go apologize to Uncle Souta."

"Yes, Okaa." they mumbled and scampered off. Kagome heard their sad voices in the next room. "Sorry, Uncle Souta. Forgive pups?"

Kagome smiled.

"Uh.. Yeah, sure. Next time just explain the rules of the game BEFORE we start playing, okay?"

For the rest of the day Akita and Shiba stuck to her legs like glue. If she turned around they were there, if she was doing nothing they were clinging to her, and if she was sitting down they were in her lap. This would continue for the next few days, it always happened when the pups were threatened with banishment. 'And I can't wait for it to end.' Kagome thought. Inuyasha suffered more than Kagom. The pups wouldn't look at him without trembling and hiding their faces in their mother's shirt. Wouldn't talk to him except in whimpered, groveled, inu-youkai speech.

By the fourth day the pups were more or less back to normal, but a sharp bark from Inuyasha would have them grovelling in submission, and he decided it was time to return to the Sengoku Jidai. Kagome put up no argument. She missed her son and daughter, Koga and Kikyou. They were old enough to remain behind and protect the village, and neither of them enjoyed the jaunts to the future very much at all. And while Kikyo could put on a happy face and bear the attention, Koga could not and was horrible to all. His parents had stopped forcing him to come. And Kikyou had quietly declared that her place was in the future, not the past. And had also stopped coming.

It hurt Mama to be so rejected (as she felt it) but she bore it, the twins helped.

"Bye, Mom!" Kagome waved, just before she jumped into the well and was magically transported into the past. Inuyasha and the twins were waiting. She climbed out, with a hand from her mate, and breathed deep the fresh air of the fuedal era. It was so beautiful here. Untainted. Clean.

"Well.. It's about time we get back. They'll be worried about us."

Inuyasha nodded. The twins were half way to the village, with their parents casually moseying along a good distance back. There was nothing to hurt the pups here. The surrounding youkai were well afraid of the hanyou Inuyasha and few dared to come within a five mile radius of Kaede's village. And even fewer dared to make a home in his forests.

Sango was the first to meet them, glowing with pride and Kagome grinned. There was a significant bulge to her friend's midriff. It came as no surprise.

"Twins. Boys." Inuyasha declared, taking a sniff.

Miroku jumped in the air and did a little modern dance that Kagome had taught him. "HA! I'm catching up!" Miroku declared proudly, giving his wife a passionate kiss on the lips. Inuyasha 'Keh'd.' but a warning look at Kagome made him suddenly forget the comeback he had ready about how strenuous the birth of twins could be on a woman. 'Then again Sango isn't carrying hanyou pups. Maybe she'll be just fine.' He hoped so. His mate would become a basket-case (a modern phrase Kagome normally used to describe HIM) if Sango died.

Kikyo welcomed them home with a gentle smile and a brief hug, to her mother. Her father she just nodded warmly too. Koga made a brief appearence at sunset, poking his head in just to say Hi to his mother. And that's pretty much all he said. "Hi." and then was back out the door and racing back into the forest in a whirlwind of dust.

"I smell Wolf." Inuyasha snarled, spitting the word at the ground. Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Kouga?" Inuyasha nodded. Kagome blinked. "On Koga." Inuyasha elabored, heading out into the night.

Kikyo stopped him with a gentle hand to his shoulder. "Father." she said quietly. "He will speak with you when he wants."

"Damnit, I'm the FATHER here. I'll speak to MY SON whenever I damn well please." Inuyasha snarled back.

"Inuyasha, Osuwari." Kagome ordered, sending him mate crashing into the floor. As the rubble cleared she spoke calmly. "Inuyasha, Kikyou is right. If there's something Koga wants to tell us he'll tell us. And I don't want you driving the poor boy off again."

Inuyasha climbed out of his crater with an angry 'Feh.' and stomped off into their bedroom.

Kagome sighed. Then turned to face her daughter.

"So, Kikyou. Any mother daughter secrets you're keeping from me about your brother?"

"Yes." the young miko said simply. She didn't lie. "Care to tell?" "Father listens." she said quietly and went outside.

Kagome sighed. "Did I just not love those two enough when they were little?"

"Impossible." Inuyasha said softly, coming out of the bedroom. He'd heard the sorrowful note in his mate's voice, and it broke his heart. "It's their heritage coming out in them love, Inutaisho, Sesshoumaru, and me. Inu-youkai.. We're like that. Distant. Even with the ones we love sometimes. You should know that. But it doesn't mean they love you any less. They adore you Kagome. I know these things." he took her in his arms, resting his chin ontop of her head and pulling her close.

Kagome sighed blissfully and sunk into his embrace. "Yes.. But.. I just don't like it."

"Neither do I, love. Neithe do I. But as you would say, I guess we just have to deal with it?" he grinned and kissed the top of her head.

She giggled softly. "I guess so."

Things would of gotten hot and heavy right there in the front room had the twins not (literally) busted in the front door and frisked around their parents shouting "Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwaaaariii!" and shooting the super soakers their mother had brought back for one of their birthdays.

"And now I'm going to kill the pups." Inuyasha growled through clenched teeth and ran after the little troublemakers. "Hm. Have fun. I'm going to go change."

And so pleasant chaos was again restored in the family.