InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Invitations to Trouble ❯ BITE ME!! ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four

Yamatsu cradled his head in his hands, trying to stave off another massive headache. It was the third one that had recently plagued him this month.

Pale blue fingers rubbed his shoulders in soothing little circles, just as they had done before. The pain slowly abated.

"Yama, calm down beloved." The quiet voice with a slightly petulant undertone, crooned lovingly into his pointed ear.

"I can't."

Unperturbed by the snarl, Shinaki continued to rub. Her flingers undid her husband's topknot and threaded through his glossy, white hair as they massaged his scalp. A pleased rumble built beneath her ministrations, but she knew the pain had to be stopped at it source.

"What is it that has troubled you so much over these past few days? For even now, it troubles you still."

"Nothing." The flat tone brooked no argument.

A hand tweaked his ear. With a cry of surprise, he spun around to face her. "Why did you do that Shinaki?!"

"Because ever since the day we wed, you have been treating me like some delicate waif that cannot do anything of use to you besides warm your bed!" Sputtering, Yamatsu flushed guiltily at the accusation.

"But Shinaki, you know that I value your thoughts. It's just that this is very complicated and I didn't want to worry you." Rich and deep, his voice trailed off at the expression on her face.

Lavender eyes flashed like jewel-cut amethysts. "Had I known becoming your wife would mean that you would no longer confide in me Yama, I would have stayed your friend!"

She relented at bit as his shoulders slumped. "Yamatsu, talk to me. I am your wife, so please allow me to share this burden with you."

Strong fingers wrapped lovingly around her slender azure wrists. "I am sorry." Drawing her to the table, he handed her an elaborately bordered scroll. "If you believe that you can aid me, I will accept it gladly."

Pale purple eyes scanned the paper before dropping it with a small sound. "He cannot be serious!" Seeking denial in the face of her love, she whispered, "But Yama, why would he do this?"

Cradling his head again, the old lord replied tiredly, "I do not know."

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"Explain to me again the reason I can't rip his arms off?" Slipping past a bank of clouds, Sesshomaru leveled off and floated for a moment. His mate was cradled across his arms bridal style, but she didn't look too good. In fact, she appeared mildly sick.

"Because you're both the eldest sons, Sesshomaru." Her grip around his neck tightened as he dropped suddenly to land in a clearing a few miles away from the cottage. After sliding from his arms with a deep breath, she sat down heavily before continuing.

"Neither one of you can afford to fight the other, no matter what the circumstances. If it was Koinu beating the shit out of him, there would be no problem." The smile she gave him was a bit apologetic, "You know I love Koinu but he's only the youngest son and a half-breed at that. He has practically no political ties as far as anything that deals with Lord Yamatsu's name or position as the Inu no Taisho."

Pointing a finger at her husband, she shrugged eloquently. "You and Kouga are a whole different story. As the legitimate heirs to your fathers' domains, any little injury could throw both lands into a war. Despite how you feel about me, a wife is not considered a valid reason to wage a mindless killing spree and you know it."

While Sesshomaru seemed to be mulling over her words, Kuroi chewed on her lower lip and prayed that he would accept what she said without further questions.

'I don't want to lie to you, but you'd probably hate me if you knew the truth.'

Once again, he muttered a curse. Brought to light, the prevalent facts had completely slipped his mind in the overwhelming urge to tear the ookami's heart out and shove it up his...

'As long as she is safe, you can handle this Sesshomaru.' Ramming his fingers through his flowing locks, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

Staring down at the slip of a girl with impossibly blue eyes and hastily braided raven-dark hair, he felt his heart swell. There were times when he forgot just how insightful his wife was.

'Little flower, three months ago I would not have cared about how many lives were lost to uphold my name and honor.' Taking in the rumpled condition of her clothes, the swelling sharpened to a protective fury. 'However, if I had not met you, I wouldn't care about what Kouga just did...'

"But he touched you!" Even now, the cloying smell of the wolf rose as an insolent assault to his sensitive nose. "How am I supposed to forget that?" He knelt beside her, searching for something in her lovely face that he needed to know. For her, the past few days melted under the heat in his eyes.

Reaching up, she threaded her fingers in his hair and pulled him down for a light kiss. As she brushed her lips across his, she released the hold she normally kept over her body, washing him in wave after wave of peach-laden perfume.

When he moaned against her mouth and deepened the contact, she said breathlessly, "Like that koibito. Just let it go."

"If we had not been apart for this past week, he would have known you were mine by scent alone, koi." The possessive hunger in his tone made her ache, longing to consumed by it. "He would never have dared to touch you."

"Koibito…" the trembling that seized her this time had no root in fear. If anything, it was sparked by the exact opposite as those nimble hands started to float over her skin.

The twin suns that drank in her every reaction to his butterfly caresses, roamed lower, scrutinizing her short robe.

"I can still smell him upon you though. Here." He tugged on the front of her garment, causing it to fall open a little. She didn't resist when he laid his body down on top of hers, instead, wrapping her arms around his neck as he laid her back against the cool grass. All her earlier apprehension fled, as a more welcome sensation started to build, making her voice lower to a sultry purr.

"Once again, easily solved." Arching her back in order to get closer to his stroking hands, she lost herself in his eyes and touch. There was another tug and the robe slid away completely.

Shivering as his teeth nipped lightly along her neck, she heard him ask intently, "Will you forgive me?" Her breath hitched in her throat as she eagerly matched him, touch for fiery touch.

"I already had koi."

{}

Kagome got up from the bed in a slight daze, plodded calmly into the other room and yanked Kouga up by the ear. Taken completely surprised, the wolf prince didn't voice one objection as she pulled him completely inside and pushed him roughly into a seat.

Inuyasha sprang to his feet to retaliate, seemingly unfazed by the blow that had sent him through the doorway of his own house. Knuckles cracking as he geared up to lash out at his assailant, he backed off when he got a good look at Kagome's face.

'I don't know what the fuck happened, but there is no way I'm going near her just yet.' Instead of admitting that his wife's facial expression had made his heart skip a beat in the bad way, Inuyasha opted to sit where he could watch the wolf closely, one hand resting on the hilt of tetsuaiga.

Sinking down heavily onto a cushioned seat opposite the ookami, Kagome stared dully at the surface of the table between them. "Kouga. I have a favor to ask of you." For his part, Kouga was studying her just as intently. 'Shit, I knew dog-turd was rough, but she looks like hell!' Indeed, the soft and lovely face that was normally conjured up in his mind when he thought of Kagome was now red and swollen. Her once shining eyes which reminded him of a mountain storm were also painfully raw in their appearance. He didn't need to breathe deeply to identify the thick tang of tears that saturated the air in the little home.

Cocking his head at the hanyou, he demanded hotly, "What the hell did you do to her you dog-brained idiot? Smack her around when she finally told you how ugly you really are?"

Inuyasha swore hotly and rose to his feet.

Fully braced to tear the half-breed apart, Kouga yelped as a chunk of wood connected with his shoulder. A sizzle in the air signaled that it hadn't been just a piece of kindling.

Whirling to face his assailant, Kouga paused at the look of extreme irritation Kagome was giving him. Her hair fluffed wildly around her head as she settled the power that had been charged into the chunk of firewood. The growling noise she was making was pretty damned surprising too.

"Kouga, shut up!" Stretching over the table to get closer to him, she grabbed the front of his armor and shook him. "I am pregnant and I am not in the mood for this today. My son has run off and you and that baka I married just wrecked my front door! I need to talk to you both, so please stop arguing and just listen to me. Understand?" Backed by a pulse of powerful miko energy, the words had been felt more than heard.

Letting go, she sat down and rubbed her side slowly.

Since that was the first time she'd ever really come close to scolding him, Kouga simply sat there, mouth agape.

'Whoa, she's kind of scary.' Spotting the telling smirk plastered on Inuyasha's face, he scowled back to hide his uneasiness. 'No way Inu-koro is going to top me when dealing with this woman.'

He grudgingly acknowledged that he couldn't really call her 'his' woman anymore. Her scent signaled that she was as unavailable as a female could get. Sulking a bit, he glanced down at the slight curve of her belly. 'Twins, huh? At least some part of that bastard is a real man.'

"What do you need me to do Kagome?" Something inside wanted to snarl when he saw Inuyasha move behind her to lay a possessive chin on her shoulder. It whimpered and died when she relaxed gratefully against the body behind her.

'I guess she really does love him.', he thought sadly. Crossing his arms, he waited for an answer.

"Help me find Shippo." The tiny voice that reached his ears was a far cry from her earlier thunder. From beneath the mussed bangs shadowing her face, new tears slid down to her chin. "He, he was really upset and ran off." Tipping her head back momentarily to look at her husband, she took a shuddery breath and faced the youkai. "Can you help us look, please?"

Before he could answer, Inuyasha interrupted. "I don't need that stupid wolf's help to find Shippo!" Rumbling as he delicately combed through her sleep-tousled hair with his fingers, Inuyasha glowered at Kouga. "I can find my son on my own."

Startled, Kagome looked back up at his face. It was deadly serious as Inuyasha watched Kouga with an unwavering stare. 'I've never heard him claim Shippo as anything more endearing than a pesky little ball of fur before now. Could he be as worried as I am?' From her position, she got a glimpse of an answer in the honey-colored eyes she loved so much.

He was worried.

A derisive laugh caught her attention, "You couldn't find a pile of shit with that pathetic thing you call a nose!" Thumbing his own, Kouga smirked. "Sure Kagome. I can find him for you, no sweat." Ocean blue eyes turned sly, "Dogs were bred from wolves after all, so of course the original will always work better than a watered down copy."

"Fuck off you flea-ridden asswipe!" The rumble lowered to a growl, and Inuyasha could practically feel his teeth lengthening.

Waving a dismissive hand, Kouga still smirked, but his eyes turned serious. "The thing is, I need something from you in return Kagome."

It was almost too much to take. "She is married AND pregnant!! What more do you need before you lay off it asshole?!" Inuyasha would love to have jumped across the low table and plant a foot so deep in that smug face that Kouga would need to breathe through his ass to survive, but he didn't. After a week without touching her, it just felt so good to be holding his mate again, so unless Kouga physically touched her, he wasn't moving.

Retorting to the implication, the ookami sneered, "Not that dog-brain!! I need to know if you can help me find someone." Baring a sizable fang of his own, Kouga reached into his breastplate and withdrew a torn and badly rumpled scroll. "Since your brother was here, I thought I could get some answers from him."

To her recollection, the wolf prince and the inu lord had only met a handful of times at best. Curious, Kagome made a small moue before asking, "How could Sesshomaru help you?"

In answer, the ookami pushed the paper across the table.

Picking it up, Kagome glanced at it and barely stopped herself from gasping in surprise. From his vantage point, Inuyasha saw it and gave a nasty snarl.

It was a painting of his brother and Kuroi together. The two figures were seated slightly apart, facing out towards the viewer with a calm expression. Even now, Kagome could still see the ghost of a smile that had played along her big sister's face.

Inuyasha had a bad feeling. 'This dickhead just saw the girl he's looking for, but he doesn't even know it. How could he be searching for her and not know what she really looks like?'

Truthfully, it would be two weeks before Kuroi looked like she did in the portrait. The painting was done while she was in her transitioned state. He remembered her saying that since she only looked like that once a month, it would make the image more special.

His brow creased as he studied the painting of the silver-haired couple more closely. 'Not to mention she said that she and Sesshomaru kind of matched.'

A clawed finger intruded into his range of vision and tapped down over Kuroi's blushing face. Kouga informed them tersely, "I need to find this girl."

Kagome was in a mild crux. On the one hand, Inuyasha was tense enough to snap and go ballistic at the next wrong word, but the way he was growling felt really good against her aching back.

'Choices suck some days.'

Attempting to distract her mate from killing the young man before them, Kagome grabbed both of his hands and laid them across her belly. The growl cut off in shock. Inwardly smiling over how easy it was to pacify the hanyou, Kagome looked towards their guest. "Why do you need her Kouga?"

Tucking the scroll back into his armor, the wolf prince rose fluidly to his feet and headed for the door. Before he took off, he told her in a voice filled with surprising tenderness, "She's my mate."

A/N: Okay, a moue is a small grimace. For those who are curious, Kuroi pretty much only wears short, sleeveless robes that stops at mid-thigh. As she explained before, she doesn't really like conventional kimonos that most women of that time preferred. She's a teensy bit of a tom boy. …okay, she's a hell of a LOT of a tom boy.

For those who felt in the first story, that Kuroi was a bit of a chipper bird, read "Silver and Cold." Trust me, she ain't a ball of eternal sunshine.