InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Life and Consequences ❯ chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Blanket Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters listed below. They all are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.



Chapter 4

The lights from the time slip faded and Kagome looked up to see a clear blue sky overhead instead of the ceiling of her family’s well-house.  Inuyasha took a deep breath to clear the stink of the other time period out of his nose and to inhale his mate’s lovely scent.  Inuyasha cradled Kagome a little more securely, then jumped out of the well.  Once he landed, he set Kagome down on her feet and grabbed her bag from her.

Before they even faced the direction of Kaede’s village, they heard a high-pitched cry of “Kagome!!” that was followed by an orange blur.  Inuyasha reached out and grabbed Shippo by the tail before he could barrel into Kagome.  Once the momentum was halted, he gently tossed the runt into her waiting arms.

“Watch it!” Inuyasha snapped.  “You could hurt someone like that.”

The red-headed fox demon kit replied by sticking his tongue out at Inuyasha and then ignoring him while he turned his attention to Kagome.  They started some inane chatter about the trip to and from the taijiya village.  Inuyasha ignored their conversation as he followed them to Kaede’s hut with his arms crossed and his normal gruff countenance.

‘That runt needs more than just a bop on the head, he’s getting more and more unruly.  I’m gonna have to have a talk with Kagome.  No pup of mine is gonna…’  Inuyasha stopped his chain of thought and looked at his mate carrying the kit and walking happily in front of him.

‘Wait… “my” pup? Where the hell did that come from?! I don’t think of the kit as mine!  But Kagome does, even if she’s never said the words.  It’s pretty obvious that he’s her pup.  And we just mated, so I guess he is my pup too.’  Inuyasha actually stopped walking as that thought hit him and allowed it to soak in while the two people occupying his thoughts got further ahead of him.  

‘I…I have a pup, a fox-demon kit, but still… and a mate…  I have a family…’ he thought in wonder.  He had stopped believing that he would have either over a hundred years ago.  He glanced at his family again and saw a couple young humans come up and greet them.  The guy was dressed in black and purple monk’s robes and the woman was dressed in a simple pink and green kimono.  Both noticed him and waved in his direction.

‘And friends… I…I have more than I ever thought I would have…’  His resolve hardened as he recalled why they had all started traveling together in the first place.  ‘We’re going to get the jewel shards and then tear Naraku a new one.  There is no way he is gonna tear this away from me!  They’re mine!!’ he actually growled in his thoughts and his eyes flashed red for a moment, even if he didn’t notice.

Inuyasha glanced at the position of the sun and saw that it was still plenty early enough to get a move on.  No need standing around here jabbering when their feet can work at the same time as their mouths.  Noisy humans.  He headed towards his pack to persuade them to get moving.  But first things first.

“Oi, Sango,” he got the taijiya’s attention, and silenced the chatter, “you get your weapon fixed?”

“Yes, Inuyasha, I was able to repair Hiraikotsu.  Good thing too, the village is running out of parts for me to scavenge.  I hope I won’t have to make any more repairs until we can replenish some of the supplies.  I also grabbed the last of the stink pellets and the potions.  The next time Kagome has to travel home, I think I’ll attempt to make some more.”

“Keh, remind me to go with her then.  That shit is putrid.  Let’s go.” He replied as he started walking along the road that would lead them out of the village.  Behind him, he heard the others scramble to get their stuff and follow after him.  He kept one ear trained on them to make sure he wasn’t walking too fast for them to be able to catch up.  Once they all grouped up, he would pick up the pace.

Inuyasha trained his other ear and his eyes on the villagers that they passed.  He usually ignored the gossipy humans in Kaede’s village, but he had a mate to protect now and it was vital that he make sure that she was safe.  He had generally felt unthreatened in here, but he could always make a quick escape if the general mood turned sour.  Kagome didn’t have that luxury unless he was nearby to grab her.  About the only thing he heard was along the lines of “Looks like they’re off again.”  One person mentioned “the hanyou’s group,” but there was no hostility behind the words.

He was quickly out of range to eavesdrop on random villagers and heard his pack hurrying to catch up with him.  It was kind of hard not to notice with the bouzu’s shakujo jangling with every step he took as they attempted to catch up with him.  Soon the ruckus died down and the shakujo was ringing in time to Miroku’s casual stride.  Inuyasha glanced back and saw his pack walking close behind him.  He caught Kagome’s eye and gave her a slight smirk.  She lightly blushed and looked down a bit.  He smirked a little wider and turned back to the road.

Sango was busy talking to Kagome and didn’t notice, but Miroku had witnessed the quick exchange.  He had realized a long time ago that Kagome-blushes only appeared when he said something particularly perverted, as a misunderstanding, of course!  Or when their socially-stunted companion had recently been particularly caring, or unintentionally sweet.  Since he wasn’t talking, and the Lady Kagome blushed after sharing a look with their dog-eared leader, he would bet on the latter.  This morning’s leg of the journey just might prove to be entertaining after all!

Miroku smiled and gradually picked up his pace so he could catch up to their surly hanyou.  The best time to tease Inuyasha was in the morning after they started their trip.  He couldn’t just leap off into the covering foliage when he got embarrassed.  Miroku might earn a bump or two on the head, but a wondering monk’s life was full of trials.  How else would one reach enlightenment after all?  Miroku saw one of Inuyasha’s ears twitch as he approached, and knew he was detected.  He smiled a little wider and sidled up next to his friend.

“So, Inuyasha…” Miroku began with a sly undertone slipping into his voice.  “I noticed that you came through the well with Lady Kagome.  We also could not locate you yesterday upon our arrival in Kaede’s village.  Did Lady Kagome permit you to stay with her overnight?”

“Keh!  What’s it to you, bouzu?” Inuyasha snapped with a light pink dusting on his cheeks.

‘”Bouzu” already?  I must have touched on something for him to skip over right over “monk.” Hmm…’

“Why, Inuyasha!  You misunderstand!  We were merely concerned about your whereabouts yesterday.  While it was a good guess that was where you resided, we had no confirmation of such.”  Miroku watched the set of Inuyasha’s shoulders slowly relax.  This was almost too easy.   

Miroku lowered his voice so the ladies would have less of a chance of hearing him and asked in what the others thought of as his ‘perverted voice,’ “So, since you spent last night with Lady Kagome were you able to get… closer… to her?”  Now the normal Inuyasha reaction to such a statement would be an impressive array of stuttering with an intense blush, followed with physical violence to the offender, then leaving immediate the area.  So Miroku was totally unprepared for Inuyasha’s actual reaction.

Inuyasha took a deep breath as if steadying himself, then shot Miroku a knowing smirk, of all things, and held it for a moment.  Then he replied, “Not last night, no,” and continued walking.  

Miroku froze in shock.  ‘He…but…I…really?!’ his thoughts jumbled around his head while his feet stood still.  He didn’t even notice when the ladies passed him.  ‘Surely not.  He’s pulling my leg!’ Miroku tried to convince himself.  ‘Yes, because Inuyasha is known for his great sense of humor,’ another part of his mind chimed in.

After Sango and Kagome passed Miroku and didn’t hear him following, they also stopped and turned around to see what was wrong.  They didn’t see anything, but the expression on his face was amusing.  He didn’t often show stunned disbelief.

“Inuyasha, hold up a minute!” Kagome called out.  

Inuyasha stopped and turned around, “Keh, what now?” he grumped.

“Something’s up with Miroku,” Kagome told him.

Inuyasha looked at Miroku who was still in the same position he had left him.  Kagome noticed Inuyasha’s eyes start to shine with worry and was not too far from panicking.  She frowned, but didn’t say anything.

“Oi, monk!  Get a move on,” Inuyasha tried.  Miroku blinked a couple times, but didn’t seem inclined to move.  Inuyasha sighed, “Fuck, I shoulda known,” he muttered to himself.  “Sango, snap him out it,” he commanded gruffly in a louder voice and turned away to resolutely face the road in front of them.

He had let them get too close.  Close enough to hurt.  When had he let his walls down?  He would have thought that out of everyone Miroku would have accepted him and Kagome together.  Hell, he brought it up all the fucking time!  And Inuyasha didn’t even tell him anything, just hinted!  He had been planning on letting Kagome tell those two humans about their mating when they stopped for lunch, but maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.  Maybe they should just take the runt aside to tell him and leave the humans out of it.  If the perverted monk couldn’t accept him and Kagome, then the demon-slayer surely wouldn’t.  Friends or not.  Fuck!  Fuck!  Fuck!  He couldn’t believe that he was so wrong about his traveling companions.  Would they still travel with him once they found out?  They couldn’t hide it forever.

Before he worked himself up enough to just grab Kagome and Shippo then run off, his mate was there and laid a comforting hand on his arm.

“Inuyasha?” Kagome asked as she looked up to him.  “What’s wrong?”  Kagome had felt a distant swirl of emotions that weren’t her own which prompted her to approach her mate.  Inuyasha had mentioned that they had some mystical bond, and she suspected that the mix of confusion, anxiety, betrayal, self-recrimination, disappointment, fear, and depression was emanating from her other half.  Looking into his eyes, she was sure that she had guessed correctly and was glad she reached him when she did.

Inuyasha glanced back and saw that the monk was moving again and nodded to himself.  “Keh, get on,” he said as he turned his back to Kagome.  Without saying a word, Kagome climbed on and he gripped her legs.

“Oi!” he called back to the rest of the group, “We’re going ahead.  We’ll meet you for lunch.”  Without waiting for a response, he leapt off with Kagome on his back.

Sango slapped Miroku on the back of the head again.  If it worked to snap him out of his daze, then it may work again.  “What did you do?!” she snapped at him.

“My lovely Sango, you misunderstand!” he protested.  “I assure you, I did nothing out of the ordinary.”  Sango gave an unladylike snort at that statement and crossed her arms to glare at him.  How he loved this woman!  What do men see in shrinking violets, when thorns make the rose all the more beautiful?  “I was merely stunned that our fearless leader told a joke.  One that I would have been proud to come up with.  My mind needed a moment to adjust to this new world view.”

“Inuyasha,” Sango stated flatly with disbelief “Inuyasha, the hanyou we hang out with, told a dirty joke?  The guy in red with the dog-ears and fangs?  Inuyasha.”

“See?  Now you understand why I had to take a moment.”  

Sango continued to stare him down.  “Maybe you had better start at the beginning.  What happened?”

“Oh, Sango my dear, I would not want to sully your ears with what men talk about in private.”

Sango rolled her eyes and replied, “Since when?  Start talking, houshi.”  She maneuvered Hiraikotsu into a better position in case he needed additional ‘persuasion.’  Miroku’s trained eye caught the movement and he laughed nervously with a hand resting on the back of his neck.

“I was merely inquiring as to his whereabouts last night and if he stayed in Lady Kagome’s time.  I then asked if they had time to get ‘closer.’  Now his usual response would be some stuttering and some violence towards my person.”  Sango nodded in agreement.  Miroku continued, “But he didn’t do any of that!  He smirked and said, ‘Well, not last night.’  And that’s when my mind needed a break.”

Sango gasped.  “Do you think they really?...” she trailed off and gave Miroku a questioning look.

“I don’t know, Sango.  I would think it would be more likely that our surly companion was messing with me than it would be for them to actually get together like so.”

“Hmm, I would bet on them getting over their problems and getting together rather than Inuyasha developing a sense of humor.  And Kagome did mention that she had some news…”

“Ahh!  So what’s the wager my lovely Sango?”

“Wager?  What wager?”

“Why the one for the bet you just made.  Of course we could just let the winner decide…” Miroku trailed off with a suggestive look and sly smile towards Sango.

“I don’t think so, pervert.  And I don’t think that’s such a good idea.  What do you think either one of them would do if they found out we put a bet on their relationship?”

“We will just have to make sure they don’t find out.”

“No, houshi,” she said with a note of finality in her voice.   “Shippo, Kirara, let’s go.  We don’t want those two to get too far ahead of us,” Sango called out and tried to get everyone moving again.  Sometimes she felt sorry for Inuyasha.  Trying to get everyone moving in the same direction was sometimes like herding cats.  While she was distracted, she felt a hand move across her bottom.  The nerve of that pervert!

Sango swung around and slapped Miroku in the face with a yell of “Hentai!”  As usual, his head snapped to the side and a red hand print was left on his face.

“You.  Walk in front.  Now,” Sango growled out.  He gave her a pleasant smile and headed for the front of their smaller group.  He was the only person she knew that could give a friendly smile after just being slapped.  She had recently developed a theory that he just needed attention.  As soon as she directed her attention elsewhere, like calling for the others, he grabbed her to make her slap him and pay attention to him again.

Once they started moving, he started up a conversation with her while staying ahead of her as she commanded.  Sango was going to have to keep an eye on him to see if her theory played out or not.

**********

Inuyasha and Kagome

“Oi!” he called back to the rest of the group, “We’re going ahead.  We’ll meet you for lunch.”  Without waiting for a response, he leapt off with Kagome on his back.  Before he was out of hearing range, he heard a familiar slapping sound, but the words that followed were too faint to hear.  Using his natural speed, he was able to travel quite a distance with the landscape blurring as he passed.

He hadn’t been running for very long before Kagome started gripping him tighter, then let out a moan of discomfort.

“Stop, Inuyasha.  Please.  Stop,” his mate requested.  He figured something was wrong, so he slowed then stopped.  As soon as he let her down, she ran a short distance away then got sick.  That wench said she was fine this morning!  He put down her bag and opened it to find her breath-stuff, some water and a spare cloth.  Once he gathered everything, he approached Kagome.  She was still bent over but it looked like the worst had passed.  He put the supplies inside his fire-rat and gently pulled her hair back from her face then started rubbing her back.

“You ok?” he asked in a near whisper.  She nodded, but stayed hunched over and spit occasionally.  He stayed where he was until she was convinced that she was finished and straightened up again.  He pulled the items he stashed inside his clothes out and handed them to her.

“Here,” he said gently as he gave her the stuff.  She gave him a weak smile and took the stuff to clean up with.  Once she was done, she brought her stuff back to the bag and dug around.  Eventually she pulled out a small sucker that was meant for Shippo and popped it in her mouth then shoved everything back in enough to get the bag closed.  Then she plopped down on the ground, all her energy drained for the moment.  Inuyasha sat on his haunches next to her and studied her face.

“You ok?” he repeated, slightly cocking his head to one side.

“Yeah, I think so.  It just hit me all of a sudden.  Which is weird.  I never get motion-sickness…  Just let me rest for a little bit.  Thank you, by the way.”

“Keh,” he replied, brushing off the thanks.  “We should have stayed in your time.  You got sick this morning too.”

“Yeah, I remember,” she said dryly then shook her head.  “Hey, so what got you so upset earlier?  Did Miroku do something?”

“Feh,” he replied softly.  She could see his mood turn more somber than it had been when he was caring for her.  Kagome placed a hand on his shoulder and waited for him to speak.  If you tried to rush her hanyou, he would tend to clam up.

After several moments of silence, he said very quietly, “I…I don’t think we should tell them, Kagome.”

“Why not?  I thought you was ok with them knowing,” she responded softly.

“We’ll have to tell the runt, just ‘cause he’ll smell it otherwise.  I’m surprised he hasn’t mentioned anything yet.  That’s another thing.  Shippo needs to start training on how to use his abilities.  You’re gonna have to let me start being more firm with him.  No more ‘osuwari-ing’ me when I try to discipline him,” he ended with a firm tone.  But Kagome knew a delaying tactic when she heard one.  Oh, she didn’t doubt that he wanted to talk about Shippo with her, but that was for a different conversation.

“Ok, we’ll tell Shippo and we’ll talk about parenting methods later.  Now, please.  What changed your mind about letting Sango and Miroku know?”  Kagome was now rubbing his back in a soothing manner.

“Keh!  They don’t need to know!  It’s none of their business!” Inuyasha snapped.  And Kagome knew that he had made up his mind for now.  She might be able to discuss it later, but it was a closed subject at the moment.

“Ok, Inuyasha.  We won’t tell them,” she conceded.  She pulled the sucker from her mouth and leaned over to give him a quick kiss.  She couldn’t help but think that they would find out eventually, but she would humor him.

“I feel better now, if you want to get moving again.  But… let’s just walk for a while first, ok?” Kagome said.  Inuyasha grunted and stood up then offered his hand to Kagome to help her up.  She smiled and took it and rose to her feet.

Once they were on the move again, Kagome thought she would try talking to her mate again.  “So, what were you saying about Shippo?”  

 He looked thankful for the change in topic and even reached out to hold her hand and give it a squeeze.  “Feh,” he said softly and continued in a gentle tone that she wasn’t used to hearing from the gruff hanyou.  “Look, I know you’ve adopted the runt and we all pretty much look after him, but there is no denying that he’s your pup.  I…I just think that he’s missing out on lessons that he needs to have in order to survive.  Now, don’t get mad, but one of those is discipline.  If I think he needs punishing for something, he probably does, and you need to let me without saying ‘it’.  I’m not always just an asshole, you know.”  His tone had gotten progressively gruffer during his speech with a glare thrown in at the end at her.

“Inuyasha, he’s just a child,” Kagome protested.

“Yeah, a youkai child, Kagome.  And a fox to boot!  He’s always going to be pressing boundaries to see what he can get away with.  It’s best to set them now before he really gets out of hand.”

“He’s not out of hand!”

“Yes he is, wench.  Not only that, he can’t use his abilities worth shit.  I know that getting orphaned put a damper on his training, but the brat is so spoiled, he doesn’t see the need to learn how to use his damn nose.  Much less any abilities he should have by now.”

“And how is he supposed to do that?!  I don’t see any adult kitsune traveling with us, do you?”

By now, they were in their normal arguing positions with their voices getting louder and louder.  Kagome was staring up an Inuyasha with her hands on her hips and Inuyasha was towering over her and leaning over slightly to get in her face.  The cuddling and kissing was exceptionally nice, but was still new.  This was familiar and let them both blow off steam.

“We don’t need any fucking adult kitsune, stupid!  I can teach him, but not if he doesn’t listen to me or respect me.  All he has to do is call out ‘Kagomeee,’ and I get osuwari’ed straight to the ground without me getting in a damn word.  Why the hell would he listen to the local joke to teach him how to use his fucking senses!”

“You jerk!  I told you I would take them off, but NOOOooo.  You want to leave them on and then throw it in my face about when I used them!”

“If you didn’t use them all the fucking time when Shippo whines about something, then I wouldn’t have to!”

“Fine!  I’ll stop using it!  Then you can teach Shippo!”

“Fine!”  With that, the argument was over and they both turned away from each other with their arms crossed.

After a moment, they turned towards each other again.  Inuyasha reached down and gave Kagome a tender kiss.  He pulled back and said in a much calmer tone of voice, “Thanks, Kagome.  That helped.”

“I thought it might,” she smiled up at him, all the heat gone from her voice also.  “Thanks for wanting to help out Shippo.  Maybe I have been too lenient towards him, and totally unfair to you.”

“Damn straight,” he replied, copying her earlier phrasing.  “Besides, no pup of mine is going to not live up to his abilities.”

Kagome gave him a brilliant smile and squeezed him in a hug before grabbing his hand and pulling him along.  She decided not to call him on that last statement because she knew it would embarrass him and it was possible that it just slipped out.

“Come on!  Isn’t it about time for lunch?  I’m starving!”

“You were just sick!  How could you possibly be hungry?”

“Because now there’s no food in there.  Duh.  Let’s find the others so we can eat.”  Inuyasha just shook his head.  He was half-human, but he still couldn’t figure humans out sometimes…  Or maybe it was just his Kagome that was hard to figure out…