InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity ❯ Toga and Aiko ( Chapter 26 )

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

InuYasha tried in vain to soothe the crying child in his arms. However, despite his best efforts, the girl's wails grew louder. The white dog howled as she followed in their wake, and the boy who ran to keep up with InuYasha's fast gait raised his voice to be heard over the din. "Can we play now, Yasha-oji-chan? Tou-san said you would play with me. Can we?" The boy plastered his hands over his ears and grimaced as Aiko's wailing grew louder. "Make her stop!"

InuYasha commiserated with the boy. If the girl's wailing bothered him this much, he could only imagine what the noise was doing to the youngster. "I'm trying," he snapped, unable to keep the frustration out of his voice. "Move faster!"

Aiko's silvery hair stuck up all over her head, and InuYasha tried to soothe her as he felt his nerves being undone, one by one. Like threads stretched too far, the strands of his patience were snapping rapidly. The dog's howling escalated as the child's volume climbed.

`Kagome,' InuYasha thought wildly, trying his hardest to block the nearly painful noise from his mind. `Hurry up, Kagome!'

"I w-want kaa-san!" the girl wailed between sobs. InuYasha settled her more securely against his shoulder and quickened his step. Kagome raced out of the trees toward them, and InuYasha heaved a sigh of relief.

"Aww," Kagome crooned as she took the child out of InuYasha's arms. "Has she been crying the entire time?"

InuYasha sighed, flexing his arms. The substantial walk from his house deep in the forest to the shrine with the weeping child had seized up the muscles. To his amazement, Aiko's wailing stopped suddenly as she stared up at Kagome with her wide amber eyes. Her breathing was harsh and stuttering from her tantrum. That Kagome had been able to instantly soothe the child was, in InuYasha's opinion, astounding. "She's been crying since Sesshoumaru dropped them off," he admitted. "But that bas—"

Kagome made a growling noise to cut him off, and her eyes shot meaningfully toward both children before returning to pin him with a pointed look. "Need I remind you that it is their father you were about to insult?" she asked quietly, still mindful of the five year-old boy who glanced curiously from InuYasha to Kagome, and back again.

InuYasha rolled his eyes but resisted the urge to finish the condemnation of his sibling. "Sesshoumaru didn't leave me a phone number where Kagura is, and his cell phone is out of range." He paused and shuffled his feet. "Anyway, thanks for helping me."

Kagome shifted Aiko onto her hip and grinned as the girl laid her head against Kagome's heart. "They're adorable."

"Keh." Adorable, maybe, but not when he had yet to get his ears to stop ringing. Aiko had a decent set of lungs, at least . . .

"Can we play now, Yasha-oji-chan?" Toga asked, tugging insistently on InuYasha's hand.

InuYasha glanced back at Kagome. She sat down in the grass under a tree with Aiko on her lap. The little girl looked happy for the first time since Sesshoumaru had dropped them off.

Having just gotten home after his talk with Kagome's mother, InuYasha hadn't been in the right frame of mind to talk to his brother, but Sesshoumaru had sounded sincerely desperate, and InuYasha hadn't been able to bring himself to tell Sesshoumaru to shove it when he had asked InuYasha to watch the children. As loath as he was to admit it, Sesshoumaru had been fairly decent to him since he had come out on this side of the well.

Kagura had apparently been called to an emergency board meeting at the school, and Sesshoumaru had some urgent business to take care of. Since it was the nanny's day off, he hadn't had a choice but to ask InuYasha to do it.

What InuYasha hadn't counted on was the wash of tears that had filled Aiko's eyes as Sesshoumaru had shut the door. Seconds after the tears had come, Aiko's bottom lip had started to quiver precariously. Then she opened her mouth and howled, and that had galvanized InuYasha into action. He'd offered her juice, cookies, candy, cartoons, everything. It seemed to him that everything he tried to comfort her only made her cry harder. He'd tried to reach Sesshoumaru on his cell phone and had even tried calling their house. He'd been absolutely desperate when he'd dialed Kagome's number and had only said one word to her when she'd answered the phone: "Help!"

Toga smacked InuYasha's arm and yelled, "Tag! You're it!" before taking off at an all-out run. The white dog loped beside the boy. InuYasha frowned.

"You're supposed to chase him," Kagome said softly from her seat under the tree.

His look must have confirmed that he had no idea what she was talking about. Kagome giggled. "It's a game. You chase him. When you catch him, you tag him, and he's `it' then."

InuYasha was about to scoff that he wasn't going to play when the child called out, "What's wrong? Too slow to catch me, hanyou?"

He heard Kagome's sharp gasp and saw her cover her mouth in shock as he lit out after the child. Toga squealed in delight as InuYasha closed the distance between them. The dog loped back to run alongside InuYasha. Toga ran as fast as his five year-old legs could go, his long raven hair streaming out behind him as his childish laughter rang out in the forest.

"Dammit, I'm going to get him," InuYasha commented as he raced after the boy. The white dog by his side jumped and barked happily.

The child was quick, InuYasha had to admit. More than once, Toga managed to dodge just in time to avoid being tagged, and his high-pitched giggles echoed through the forest. After nearly ten minutes, InuYasha finally tagged the boy, and a new chase began.

InuYasha ran past Kagome and Aiko then veered to duck behind the tree. Toga skidded to a stop and suddenly eyed Kagome curiously, as though he hadn't actually seen her when she had first arrived. "You're a human," he stated flatly. "I am youkai."

InuYasha didn't have to see her face to know that Kagome was smiling. The emotion carried over in her voice. "You have pretty markings on your cheeks," she agreed. InuYasha frowned. She could see Toga's crests? "What's your name?"

The young youkai's chin lifted proudly. InuYasha blinked in instant recognition. He'd always thought that even though Toga was named after Sesshoumaru and InuYasha's father—Toga's grandfather—he more resembled Kagura in both looks and demeanor. Just then, however, he looked exactly like a small version of Sesshoumaru. "I am Inutaisho Toga, son of Sesshoumaru. Otou-san says that my crests are inherited from my grandfather. His were blue, too. InuYasha is my uncle, but he's hanyou." His tone left very little doubt that he thought hanyou were inferior to full youkai. Behind the tree, InuYasha grimaced. The boy sat down by Kagome's feet. "What's your name?"

"Kagome," she supplied. "Should you be telling me that you're a youkai?"

Toga shrugged. "Tou-san says that you're a powerful miko. Tou-san said you battled Naraku and defeated him. Tou-san says—"

"Your father apparently talks way too much," InuYasha growled as he flopped down on Kagome's other side. Trying to look for signs that she'd recognized anything that Toga had just so eloquently stated, InuYasha couldn't tell if he was more relieved that she didn't seem to recognize the name `Naraku' or more peeved that she hadn't seemed to understand any of it at all.

Kagome laughed. "A miko? I'm not a miko!"

The warning look that InuYasha sent the boy's way staved back whatever commentary the lad had begun to form. Toga looked duly befuddled, but let the subject drop. His golden eyes rose to lock with Kagome's after a moment, and InuYasha narrowed his gaze, almost afraid to hear what the pup would say next.

"She's sleeping. Aiko won't go to sleep for anyone but kaa-san." Toga dug the heel of his shoe into the dirt in a way that struck InuYasha as a nervous gesture. "Could you put her down? You could play with us! Can't she, Yasha-oji-chan? I know she's a girl, but . . ."

InuYasha grinned despite himself. "I guess," he allowed, making a show of his feigned reticence. Kagome made a face as she gently shifted Aiko to lay her down.

After checking the girl to make sure that she was still asleep, Kagome hooked her arms around her raised knees and scrunched up her shoulders. "What are we playing?"

Toga hopped up, arms waving wildly in excitement. At the last moment he remembered not to yell, but he smiled brightly when he said, "Can we play hide and seek?"

InuYasha didn't want to ask what the game was. Judging from the looks on both Kagome as well as Toga's faces, he was the only one who didn't know.

"I'll be `it' first," Toga generously offered. He sank down by a rock and hid his face in his arms. "One . . . two . . . three . . ."

She reached down and grabbed InuYasha's hands, pulling until he stood. The dog growled low. Kagome didn't hear the noise. "Come on, InuYasha. We have to hide."

InuYasha let Kagome lead him toward the trees. He still had no idea what sort of game this was, but as long as Kagome was willing to hold his hands, could he really complain?

She let go of his hands and waved in the direction of the forest. "Hurry up! Go hide!" She started toward a thicket of bushes. InuYasha followed her. "What are you doing?" she demanded as he knelt down beside her.

"Hiding," he replied. "Ain't that what you said to do?"

Kagome opened her mouth to reply then snapped it closed again. "We're not supposed to hide together!" she complained though her tone wasn't irritated in the least.

"Who says?" he countered, feigning innocence. There was something to be said in favor of these children's games, he decided as he stared into Kagome's eyes. A slight flush crept over her cheeks, and he grinned, inordinately proud of himself for being the cause of the reaction. "You took the best spot."

"There's a million other places you could have hidden, InuYasha," she pointed out, her voice distracted, vague.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Toga yelled in the distance.

InuYasha's eyes dropped to Kagome's lips. Her flush deepened when she noticed where he was staring, and her lips fell open just slightly. "What now?" he asked softly.

He could sense the battle inside her, the war of her mind to drag her back to her senses while her instincts called out to her to kiss him. Her mind won the battle, though, and Kagome shot to her feet, calling over her shoulder as she broke into a run, "Now you've got to make it back before Toga tags you!"

InuYasha let his head fall back as his eyes squeezed closed. This game was going to kill him.

The dog growled beside him. He glanced down and patted her head. "What's wrong, Dammit?" he asked softly.

The dog's eyes looked sad. InuYasha nodded and sighed. "I know it," he remarked as he stood, peeking over the top of the bushes to look for Toga. The boy was running around trees nearby. "Come on," InuYasha whispered to the dog just before he broke into a run in the direction that Kagome had disappeared moments before.

"I got you!" Toga hollered with resounding glee as he threw his arms around InuYasha's right leg.

Kagome giggled as InuYasha and Toga emerged from the trees. "All right, pup. Let go. You got me."

Toga's arms tightened, forcing InuYasha to drag him around. Toga spotted Kagome and instantly let go of InuYasha's leg. He skittered over to her and dragged at her hands until she stood up. "Come on, Kagome! InuYasha's slow! He'll be `it' forever!"

Her gaze rose to lock with InuYasha's. "Keh!" he snorted as he flopped back against the tree, arms crossed over his chest. He closed his eyes. "One. Two. Three." He opened one eye to pin them with a pointed look. "Are you going to hide or not?" Kagome giggled again as he closed his eye. "Four. Five. Six . . ."

He heard the two run off. Toga's excitement was a palpable thing. InuYasha hid his smile as he kept counting.

When he reached fifty, he set out quietly, intent on locating Kagome, wherever she was hiding. It didn't take him long to find her. His nose was attuned to her scent. She hid behind a small thicket of bushes not far from him. He could tell from scent alone that Toga was hiding further away. Ducking behind a large rock, InuYasha peeked around it. Kagome stood on her knees looking carefully over the bushes. That he'd circled around gave him the advantage, though, and InuYasha deliberately squelched the voice inside his head that told him that he was cheating, using his uncanny senses to locate the others. The dog beside him whined. InuYasha waved a hand to silence her.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he dragged Kagome back against his chest with a triumphant smile. "Caught you," he murmured in her ear.

She gasped softly and craned her neck to stare up at him. Her heart thumped so loudly that for a moment, it was all he could hear. As though her heartbeat had become his own, he felt the pulse synchronize in his chest as he tightened his hold on her.

"That's not fair," she said though her tone lacked the accusing tone it should have held.

"Everything's fair in the chase," he remarked. Eyes falling to her neck, he could see her pulse fluttering like a caged animal. He rubbed her skin with the pads of his thumbs through the thin material of her blouse. She shivered and pressed back against him.

"InuYasha . . ."

"Shh," he whispered, his lips brushing over hers. Her eyes fell closed as her breath caught. Her body went limp in his arms, and he supported her, cradled her, held her close as he kissed her.

She turned to face him, as though she needed the contact with him as desperately as he needed hers. He sat back and pulled her into his lap, his lips never leaving hers. She sighed against his mouth, the sound soft, muffled. Her hands rose to cup his face, and he growled. The sensations coursing through him bordered on pain, delicious pleasure that nearly undid him.

Slowly at first, and then with more daring, Kagome returned the kiss. Her lips opened and closed under his like the wings of a hummingbird, asking for whatever he was willing to give her, and what he was willing to give was all of his heart. He discovered that nibbling at her lower lip made her shudder. Tracing the same lip with the tip of his tongue made her moan. Her reactions became his, and he wasn't sure anymore where she ended and he began. The only thing that made sense was that Kagome was there, in his arms, and that was exactly where she should be.

"Eww! What are you doing? You're acting like tou-san and kaa-san!"

InuYasha very nearly lost his temper at the youngster, who stood over them with a very real air of disgust as he eyed Kagome and InuYasha. He drew a deep breath to settle his nerves and shot the boy a glare. "And what are you doing, sneaking up on us like that?" he asked tightly.

The boy did a fair imitation of InuYasha's `keh!' "Is Kagome `it' now?"

InuYasha looked down at Kagome, who was still cradled against his chest. Her expression held an odd mix of confusion, embarrassment, and blatant regret, and he wondered why. When she noticed his look, she sat up quickly, nearly falling off his lap.

He caught her before she slipped. But the action brought her hip flush against him. He stifled the low moan that started to escape him at the nearly painful contact. The dog beside him growled. "Dammit," he said, casting the dog a quelling look. The dog instantly stopped though she retained her guarded pose.

It was all he could do not to haul her right back onto his lap, despite Toga's marked disapproval. Caught on the waves of pure, instinctive desire, InuYasha had to ask himself if anyone had ever died from the feelings he was having so much trouble containing.

"Did I hurt you?" Kagome asked softly, concern instantly flooding her eyes.

"Nope."

Her eyebrows drew together at his strangled response. Before she could comment, Toga cleared his throat loudly. "Are we going to play some more?" he asked, disgust at the two of them quite evident in his tone.

Reluctantly, Kagome stood, straightening her blouse and shorts as she did so. InuYasha watched in silence as she took Toga's hand and started back toward the clearing. He heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head as he stared after them. His entire body ached, and there wasn't a thing he could do about it, at the moment. InuYasha made a face as he drew a ragged breath, willing the heat in his body to dissipate.

`Glutton for punishment,' his youkai-voice mocked him.

He sighed again.

`Absolutely.'