InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shrine Prostitute ❯ Adaptation ( Chapter 11 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: FlameTwirler 
The pair arrive at Kagome's home.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.04.2007 | Updated On: 03.09.2013 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.5K | Visits: 4.7K | Status: Work In Progress
The pair arrive at Kagome's home.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.04.2007 | Updated On: 03.09.2013 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.5K | Visits: 4.7K | Status: Work In Progress
Shrine Prostitute by FlameTwirler
~ ~ ~
Chapter 11: Adaptation
----- A slow, usually unconscious modification of individual and social activity in adjustment to cultural surroundings
~ ~ ~
The two hour train ride was a new experience for Inuyasha, and a terrifying one at that. It wasn’t the speed that got to him – he figured he was capable of nearly the same, though he'd hardly had the opportunity to use it – but the tightly enclosed space with so many human bodies did. Though the smell alone almost overpowered him, what bothered him more was the feeling of being surrounded, closed in.
Kagome was only able to tell in how stiff he held himself. Knowing he’d only become more irritable if she called attention to it she just pretended not to notice, and when she took his hand she tried to make it seem it was only for her own comfort and not for his.
The walk from the train station to her family shrine was nerve-wracking and he plain stopped cold at the foot of the stairs that would lead them the final length. He hadn’t really thought this through, hadn’t considered what it would be like to put himself in a strange household for a month with people he didn’t know, to live at their mercy, with who knew what kinds of threats hanging around…
Kagome jarred him from his tempestuous thoughts by tugging his hand, pulling him up the first step. “Don’t worry about anything. My family will love you; they’re good people.”
The smile she gave him was meant to be reassuring and though he didn’t buy it completely, he wasn’t a coward (and was miffed that she’d even thought he would be worrying, let alone that she was right); he hadn’t come all this way to back down now. Besides, if Kagome had grown up in this household then perhaps it wouldn’t be entirely bad. He almost started at the thought but then mentally shrugged. It’s not like he’d said it out loud and there wasn’t anybody in the area who could read his mind so he was safe.
He trudged awkwardly up the stairs behind her but his impatience won out and in a flurry of motion he caught her up and jumped the remaining distance. Kagome was torn between trying to push her heart back down from where it had taken up residence in her throat and looking in amazement between his face and the spot they’d been dozens of steps lower only seconds prior. Inuyasha chose to ignore her reaction and started toward the main building on the shrine grounds which he assumed must also be her house, stopping only when he reached the door to finally set her down.
She sent him one last quizzical glance before rushing inside, where he only assumed he was supposed to follow after closing the door, and got completely caught up in the whirlwind that was her family. He was able to identify her mother, grandfather, and little brother, from the rundown she’d given him on what he could more or less expect at her home. They were flocked around her as though they hadn’t seen her in years, not just four weeks, and were bombarding the poor girl with three separate but simultaneous strings of questions. His ears flattened reflexively against his head at the clamor of the invasive racket.
Suddenly the little boy spied him and at his exclamation the quartet turned to face him where he’d been forgotten for the moment, lurking in the doorway. When he didn’t immediately start forward Kagome walked back over to him, her face gentle, and grabbed his hand to bring him over to meet her family. Even if he’d tried he wouldn’t have been able to express his gratitude at her keeping her hand in his and grounding him during the tense introductions.
The boy and old man were immediately shooed away by Mrs. Higurashi as she assumed he would be more comfortable meeting them individually than feeling outnumbered. She smiled at him in a way that let him know immediately where Kagome had gotten that particular affectation.
“How was your trip here?”
Inuyasha made a noncommittal sound, head swiveling as he took in all the aspects of the room both to gauge its safety and exit routes but also for simple curiosity's sake
Kagome nudged his ribs with her elbow but answered for him anyway. “It was fine, mama, though his first time on a train was bound to be a bit traumatizing.”
“It was not traumatizing wench!” He glowered at her.
Well, she thought, that certainly got a reaction out of him. She smirked up at his seething face, minutely proud that she’d pulled the expected retort from him. As though he’d just recalled they had an audience in her mother, one he didn’t know and had to live with for the next month no less, he crossed his arms with his typical, “Keh,” though Kagome couldn’t help but notice a faint spattering of pink tinge across his cheeks from his outburst.
Mrs. Higurashi must have noticed as well because she was smiling even wider now. “Since you are the guest of honor this evening, Inuyasha, why don’t you tell me what you would like for dinner?”
He took a long look at her, eyes narrowed as though looking for the trick in the question. When he didn’t sense any trace of humor or duplicity, though, his gaze lost its intensity and he became almost hesitant. There still had to be some kind of catch. No one opened up her house this much to a stranger, let alone a hanyou. Hell, he didn’t even know what food she might have, and since his food was always prepared for him in the Shrine cafeteria he didn’t know what was expensive (though he was sure he’d seen precious little of that in his day) and what wasn’t. Hadn’t Kagome bought a whole load of that ramen stuff because it was cheap? It tasted damn good too…
Before he could talk himself out of changing his mind he blurted out his answer. “Ramen?!”
His voice, tightened in discomfort, exploded with enough force that Mrs. Higurashi actually jumped, but at the slight question in his tone she lowered her hand from her chest, smiled at him yet again – did the woman’s lips ever freeze like that? – and walked to the kitchen to rummage through her cupboards. A moment filled with riffling sounds later, a quick sound of triumph, and she returned carrying the proffered items in her hands and deposited them on the table with a thump.
“Now you two, why don’t you go outside while I’m starting dinner and grandpa can show you where you’ll be staying?”
Kagome shot her mom a confused look. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh my goodness, I hadn’t even told you about our surprise yet. We converted part of one of the old storage sheds into a private room for you. Granted the bathroom is tiny - we picked one of the outbuildings with running water so that you actually have one though, without having to wait another couple days for it to be plumbed in. But the bedroom is decent sized, and quite nicely decorated if I may add, and that way we won’t be in each other’s way.”
Inuyasha immediately seized up at her side, his grip on her hand tightening, and she knew instantly what he’d assumed. “I’m sure it’s not like that,” she tried to assure him, but he wasn’t looking any less rigid.
“Not like what?” her mother asked, glancing between the two as if to pick up on their silent signals.
“That you don’t want a filthy hanyou like me in your house,” he bit off, near to spitting in his anger and self-contempt.
To both his and Kagome’s surprise, Mrs. Higurashi burst out laughing. “Oh my, Inuyasha, but you are a hoot.” Wiping tears from her eyes, she ignored the looks from the two that clearly questioned her sanity. “You obviously don’t know us at all, but I’m sure you’ll learn.”
When her joviality had run its course she stepped up to him, placing a hand on his arm as she let the sincerity and seriousness of her words show on her face. She paid no attention to the way he startled at the contact, having heard some of his history from her daughter, nor the way he stared at her hand like it was an alien object he had no idea what to do with. “In this household you are judged by how you act, not by what kind of blood you carry inside of you.”
His amazement of the woman was doubled by the fact that she hadn’t said he’d receive no judgment at all, that she’d let everything slide on pity – as he always feared – but that he would be known and treated as he deserved based on who he was, not some large, overhanging phantom he had no control over. He would be treated like an individual, like everyone else.
His skepticism must have started to show through because she stepped back and the wry humor was back on her face. “No, the reason we’re placing you two outside is because based on the activities the two of you will be involved in I assumed you would enjoy your privacy.”
“Mother!” Kagome stamped her foot, red faced.
“Besides, that is something I really do not need to have details about and I like my sleep as much as anyone else and do not wish to have it interrupted due to any of your more, ah, lively endeavors.”
Inuyasha felt himself loosening around this woman and almost outright snickered at Kagome’s abject mortification. For the moment though he was worried this all might be a dream. Deciding that if it was, he better make as much use of it as possible before waking, he hastily started towing Kagome out the door behind him in search of their room, Mrs. Higurashi watching from behind, mirthful eyes twinkling.
They were out the door already when Kagome heard her mother calling after her, the slightly worried tone giving her pause, and when Inuyasha turned to follow her back inside she gave him a peck on the cheek. Knowing she’d have to keep him occupied to prevent his tailing her, she asked him to check out the room for them. He merely grunted and turned back around, stalking across the courtyard to where she indicated their makeshift abode would be.
Kagome hurried inside, worried to leave Inuyasha to his own devices for too long in a new place.
“Oh good dear, you heard me,” her mom said quietly from the doorway. “I just wanted to remind you about your grandfather and how he can sometimes go on his rampages about youkai. He’s perfectly harmless, as you well know, but you might want to warn your friend…” Mrs. Higurashi trailed off and Kagome’s eyes filled with horror as a growl filled the space behind her. Without a word to her mother she whirled and ran off in the direction she’d sent Inuyasha.
She found him not a moment later, covered in ineffective ofuda, claws raised at her glaring grandfather. She didn’t think, she just reacted.
“Osuwari!”
Even as she said it she knew it was probably the wrong thing to do but couldn’t think of anything else to diffuse the situation. She immediately ran over to Inuyasha, bending over him to assess the damage, but when it didn’t look like he’d be moving anytime soon she rounded on the man standing behind her.
“Jii-chan! How could you?!” she growled, doing a decent imitation of Inuyasha's mood just seconds prior, indicating the holy papers fluttering slightly in the breeze. “He’s our Tetsudai, our honored guest – you can’t attack him like that!”
“But he’s part youkai! I was trying to do him a favor and purge the beast out of him so he could be full-human and live like a civilized individual.”
Kagome glowered at him, turning her back to kneel at Inuyasha’s side. “There’s no ‘beast’ in him, jii-chan; he’s perfectly civilized just the way he is.”
“He was about to attack me!”
“You attacked him first!”
There was a silent pause where both parties fumed, but finally the older man’s will finally bent slightly when he saw the way she was positively fussing over the hanyou, obviously slightly worried. “Maybe I...shouldn’t have acted so on our first meeting,” he said grudgingly, but then turning to Inuyasha he warned, “but if you harm one hair on my granddaughter’s head you’ll answer to me, you hear?”
Kagome knew that was as close to an apology as they’d get so did nothing more than sigh when her grandfather started back toward the main house. Crouching low, putting her face near his, she slowly reached for Inuyasha’s head. “I’m sorry about him. He doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s harmless, really – ”
“Says who?” he cut her off, cocking his head slightly to look at her. “He acts out of ignorance or disgust or whatever and I’m the one who gets flattened.” She knew he was right, and furthermore, that she was the one who’d seen to it.
“Anything I can do to make it up to you?”
A calculating look came swiftly to his eyes and as his gaze bore into hers he bellowed, “Hey old man, you hear me?”
“What do you want, young’un?” her grandfather griped back, having just made it to the doorway on his aching joints.
“Kagome and I aren’t coming out for a couple days. Make sure to bring our food over to our room and leave us alone. Got it?”
The older man started to complain but when Kagome got past her shock at Inuyasha’s demand she turned to peg her jii-chan with a glare, reminding him that the current predicament was started by him, and she only heard muted grumblings as he shuffled through the door. The way Inuyasha’s ears were shifting she guessed he could make out the words but it didn’t look as if he’d be sharing with her.
Picking himself up he pulled her roughly to her feet and, grabbing her hand fully in his, led her off toward their newly appointed quarters, pausing only when he realized he wasn’t sure exactly where he was supposed to go and tugging her in front of him. Arriving in the room he didn’t even allow her a moment to take in the changes her family had made; he simply closed the door, locked it, and pounced.
~ ~ ~
The first any of her family saw of the two of them again was a full four days later, after they’d christened every available square inch in their spartan bedroom and tiny adjoining bathroom. Her mother had clucked her tongue and immediately forced them to eat copious amounts of food, for though they both glowed with contentment there were most definitely dark circles under her daughter’s eyes.
Kagome, as her mother noticed, hadn’t gotten much sleep, but she didn’t mourn the loss. Quite the opposite, she reveled in it. The first thing Inuyasha told her that first night, once they had paused and were still long enough to attempt speaking again, was that since she bought an entire month with him there would be no more one-hour time constraints. Then of course his eyes had gleamed and he’d informed her that he intended to make up for every single night that he’d been forced to end earlier than desired – so she’d better be prepared to keep up.
She had, even giving him a run for his money, but judging from the faces around the breakfast table this day – from her grandfather’s glower to her mother’s smug, knowing smile, to her brother’s blush and avoidant gaze – it was obvious her family knew exactly what they’d been up to, perhaps even hearing one of their more enthusiastic endeavors, though she cringed at that thought. There were just some things a family wasn’t supposed to share. Then again, most families didn’t bring home their own Tetsudai either, so she figured they’d make do.
Still, everyone got over the initial awkwardness quickly. Inuyasha had somehow loosened up a great deal around her family, which she could only attribute to the heavy satiation and relaxation that must be plaguing him as much as it was her. He was still snarly and aggressive, particularly with her grandfather, but though the fights were annoying it warmed her heart that he felt free enough in her home to speak his mind and be himself.
When it came out at a subsequent meal that Inuyasha had never once played a video game Souta stared at him in horror, then quickly jumped on the idea of having a live-in play buddy, one he could beat pitifully since the hanyou had no prior experience. Little could he predict that his pupil would be so adept that he started whooping him soundly after only one day’s practice, and amusement turned to adoration. The boy skulked around so much in his trail that Kagome would have to literally chase him away from their room when it was time for what they still termed their 'worship ritual'. And though Inuyasha tried to feign irritation at the blatant hero-worship she could see how much it secretly pleased him.
Things were going along swimmingly, which of course meant that fate had to change something soon.
~ ~ ~
Kagome and Inuyasha had finally escaped the wiles of her family for a moment to catch a breath of fresh air by themselves. After those first couple days they hadn’t had much chance to simply be in each other’s presence and she, for one, was craving some quiet solitude with the friend who was quickly growing in her esteem.
She led him deeper into the forest her family maintained on the back of their property, knowing that he’d like the open land, surrounded by nature with not a single other being or building in sight. She felt gratified when she saw him close his eyes and breathe in deeply, taking in the clean air with only the faintest hint of city smells, but when he opened his eyes and pegged them on her there was a heat in them that had nothing to do with the setting – or perhaps everything to do with it.
Jerking abruptly, she backed up until she felt a tree behind her, then with a wry smile and a quirk of her head she turned and fled. Inuyasha was confused for a moment until he saw her turn her head and laugh, finally noticing that she was barely managing a jog. No, she had no desire to get away from him at all.
And suddenly everything in him released.
He bolted forward but kept to either side of her, boxing her in but never impeding her progress, enjoying the game and build up of anticipation more than anything he could remember. He found he was actually having fun stalking her like his prey and thrilled in the control he had, that he could end this silly chase at any time, exhilarated that she was laughing and playing because of him.
She ran into a dense copse of trees where she could go no further without getting ripped up by the thick thorny bushes and turned to find him closing in on her. He prowled in slowly, eyes gleaming, and her smile died on her lips and her gaze turned smoldering. Though the chase hadn’t winded him at all his breathing was harsh, excited and pleased as he was in winning their little game. She wanted him so badly in that moment she could taste it but she loved the heightened tension and was determined to draw it out, so even as he advanced she backed away until she abutted another tree.
Then she waited.
The friction was so thick in the air she thought she might suffocate on it if he didn’t pick up his pace; as it was her heart was beating rapidly in her throat and she couldn’t have willed herself to move to him if she’d tried.
Inuyasha moved forward in a haze, blind and deaf to all sensations other than the roar of blood in his ears, the vision of beauty standing before him. Without realizing it he’d stopped while still a few feet away from her, just taking in the moment, but after hearing her small growl of frustration and impatience at his lack of momentum he sprung to life.
There was no preamble at all. He jumped – no pounced Kagome thought fit better – over the last remaining distance and before she could tell how he’d done it he had her shirt up to her neck and her skirt at her hips, his own covered erection rocking viciously against her, causing her to cry out and buck against him.
She ground herself back fervently but he ignored the plea and caught up her hands in his when she tried to make her way down to his hakama ties. Instead he roughly pushed her further into the bark of the tree, only satisfied when she gasped for him, then pinning both of her hands above her head, he pulled her bra down, the bunched fabric pushing her breasts up to his greedy mouth, his harsh nips.
His free hand moved from her breast to her hips, then swiftly enough that she didn’t break stride, he pulled his hips back from hers and covered her with his hand, plunging two fingers up inside of her. She hadn’t even noticed but their movements had pushed her far enough up the tree so that her feet didn’t touch the ground and so all of her weight at that moment was dangling from Inuyasha’s grip on her wrists or rested on his fingers, pushing him inexorably deeper. The only way she could manage any leverage was to pull herself up against his hand but it wasn’t enough and her arms were shaky from the roiling mess he was creating inside her. She tried to lift her legs around his waist but stopped when Inuyasha warned her off with a growl. Instead he lifted her higher and made her ride his fingers. His thumb curled up to caress her engorged clit and he curled his digits inside of her, pushing against the sides of her walls, almost stroking.
Later Kagome would be grateful for the relative seclusion of the place as biting her lips no longer seemed able to stem the tide of her moans, gasps, and occasional whimpers, especially when he momentarily took all of her remaining weight from her hands and lowered her fully onto a third finger.
The next time, when she lifted her legs to grip herself against him, he didn’t argue, and she pulled her hands free from his to attack his hakama. No sooner did she have the ties undone than he was in her, hot, scalding, pulsing – every nerve in her sensitized to his presence around her, inside of her. He thrust violently and she matched his every move as they scrabbled at each other, needy fingers digging into flesh, moving fabric aside to get to skin.
When finally Kagome climaxed she screamed aloud, sharp and piercing, though in his haze Inuyasha didn’t find the note painful as much as beautiful. As if it had been a signal he’d been waiting for he redoubled his efforts, shortening his thrusts and reveling in the feeling of her quivering from post-coital sensitivity. With a growl that he buried against her throat he spent himself in her, then when his legs could no longer hold the two of them up, he slid down to his knees on the ground, dragging Kagome down with him until she was cradled in his lap, legs still wrapped around him, his sweaty forehead sticking to her chest.
It took him a few moments to come back to himself but he was dimly aware that something wasn’t right. A niggling sensation was building in the back of his mind until it thrust itself forward into his consciousness with a giant leap after one deep inhalation.
“You’re bleeding.” He spat the words like an accusation and Kagome, who was still too happy to register the specifics of his words and just nodded, mumbling a sleepy affirmation.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He grabbed her by the arms and pushed her back from him so he could see her and the look on her face snapped the last of her lethargy from her. He looked stricken and, if she wasn’t mistaken, his face was paler than normal – which was especially unusual considering he'd normally still be flushed from what they’d just done. She wasn’t sure what the problem was but knew she’d do anything to wipe that expression from him.
She put her hands to his face and smiled gently. “In case you didn’t notice, I was enjoying myself thoroughly. I don’t mind at all that I got a little scratched during all the fun.”
From the amount of blood in the air he wasn’t put off by her usage of the term ‘scratch.’ “Let me see,” he growled.
Knowing there was no use arguing as he could just as easily flip her around himself she decided to oblige his temper and stood to turn. Her entire back was reddened from hips to shoulders from where he’d pulled her shirt up and pushed her against the tree. Mostly it was just rubbed raw but there were some deeper scratches and cuts that had bled out. She was sure she’d be sore for a couple days, perhaps stiff from any spots that might scab over, but the first was nothing new for her after one of their trysts. Still, Inuyasha looked as though the world had just come to a stop.
“Oh, for goodness sake, I'm not that fragile; stop looking at me like I’m going to drop dead. I’m not going to break and can handle a little blood loss. Besides, this is nothing compared to anything you’ve gone through so don’t freak out about it.”
“What the fuck do you mean you’re not fragile?! In case you haven’t noticed, wench, I’m hanyou, while you’re a weak little human. I could have hurt you. I did hurt you.”
He stood suddenly, hurriedly dressing her and only succeeding in pulling her skirt and bra back into order before shoving her shirt into her arms, then put his shoulder to her stomach and lifted her off the ground.
“Inuyasha!” she gasped, vainly trying to both keep her skirt from flying up and keep herself from falling out of her flimsy, insubstantial bra (the kind she'd taken to wearing only for his benefit, she thought snidely), covering whatever else she could with the shirt she carried, all while attempting to pull on his hair enough to get him to release her. “What do you think you are doing?”
“Taking you home to get you fixed.”
She nearly went cross-eyed at that response. Being held upside down and having one’s head bounced against a back – albeit it a very nice, attractive, nicely muscled back – certainly didn’t help. He could not seriously mean to take her to her mother dressed like she was; there was no way she’d ever live down the mortification.
“Do you really want my family to see me like this?” she demanded, outraged at his presumption.
He stiffened, his desire to get Kagome properly seen to warring with his pride and having to admit his folly to her family, and finally he caved to her wishes.
“Fine, I’ll fix you myself. You have stuff in that room of yours?”
She thought about it. There hadn’t exactly been much time to explore the deeper recesses of their room, bathroom, and the storage building it was part of, but with her grandfather’s propensity for collecting random junk she was sure there’d be something of use laying around. She didn't bother to voice her opinion that she didn’t need bandaging, knowing he’d just bulldoze by that thought anyhow.
“I’m sure there’s something. If nothing else I can tell you where supplies are in the main house.” He stiffened again and Kagome guessed he wouldn’t want to explain to her family why he needed the bandages, but she’d cross that hurdle if it arose.
At that moment she couldn’t bring herself to care as she was suddenly paralyzed with the fear of discovery as they stepped from the forest into the courtyard. She didn’t think she could face anyone if they found her as she was displayed over Inuyasha’s shoulder. Luckily they made it into their room with no mishaps. He located some gauze and some old sticky ointment quickly and began to work on her back, stripping her completely to make sure he didn’t miss a single scratch anywhere.
She almost could have sunk into the mattress and relaxed at the touch of his hands, alternating between fierce and gentle, but she could all too clearly picture the way he must be mentally berating himself. Had she known he’d blow things so out of proportion she might have stopped things before they could go too far, but she’d had fun, damn it, and so had he!
He propped her up on the bed until she was sitting and wrapped the bandages all the way around her stomach in order to cover her back and, while she was touched, she’d had enough.
“Inuyasha, I want you to stop beating yourself up right now.”
“What makes you think you know what I’m doing? Besides, if your ningen bodies weren’t so pathetically shielded maybe things like this wouldn’t happen.”
He glared at her as if she had no idea what was going on in his head but sometimes he was still easy for her to read. It was now though that she understood there was something much deeper to this issue. However, given that she was sure he wasn’t about to explain the problem to her she just had to go on fixing what she could for the moment. She’d have to try figuring out the recesses of his psyche another time.
“I enjoyed what we did, so what’s the problem? If I liked it there’s nothing for you to feel guilty about. Please…just tell me you’re alright?” she finally pleaded, all the vinegar taken out of her.
“I’m not the one who got hurt.”
His refusal to answer lit a final fire inside her though and she snapped at him briefly. “You didn’t enjoy what we did then, weren’t excited by it at all? Was I the only one taking pleasure in the moment out there?”
He flinched slightly, only noticeable to her because his hands were still on his skin, but he still stubbornly refused to concede her point.
Sighing, she resigned herself to putting up with an ancy hanyou for the next few days until she could finally coax him out of his mood.
Unfortunately, he more than just lived up to her expectations. From that point on he treated her like she was made of china and sometimes she just wanted to pull on her hair and scream in frustration. The only time he argued with her was when she brought up his sour temperament; other than that he acted as if he suddenly had the same opinion as her on absolutely everything. It was even to where all the wild edge, spunk, and spontaneity had gone out of their nights and every action, every touch was a study in gentility.
Though the majority of the time that annoyed her she had to admit that inwardly she sometimes liked it. She loved the passion he evoked in her but this rare glimpse into his tender side made a small corner of her heart melt...when it wasn’t still raging at him for thinking she was too weak to take anything more - as if she hadn’t proven so and done so time and time again with him already.
She had wracked her mind about how to help get him past this hurdle and nothing seemed to help – it was as if this tiny infraction had traumatized a small portion of him and she didn’t know what to do.
While she wasn’t sure she could say she’d ever get used to his moods she knew how he reacted. He had a tendency to hold onto things and drag them out for days but in the time she’d known him he always got over it and moved on. This situation was a phenomenon in that it was nearly the exact opposite. As the days passed he seemed to get even more withdrawn and irritable and she was at a complete loss as to what to do.
Things came to a head in the middle of their third week back. Inuyasha had been sulking all day, alternately grousing and picking fights for no reason, to the point where Kagome had finally sent him out of the kitchen where she was cooking dinner with her mother. He grumbled all the way back to their room and when she came to get him to eat she found he’d locked the door on her.
She fumed; of all the ridiculous things! He was acting downright childish. Calling him brought no response until she started banging on the door hard enough she worried the fragile workmanship would give. Apparently he must have had the same thought because he finally deigned to answer with a short, “Go away!”
He didn’t know her temperament very well if he thought that command would help his cause at all. She left the door long enough to locate the toolbox hidden in one of the back recesses of the storage room then dug out a flathead screwdriver and put it to the doorjamb. It was a simple enough way to get a door open - sliding the bolt open with the tool, and both she and Souta had learned the trick relatively young as many of the vast array of rooms in the storage sheds tended to get 'accidentally' locked - but it had been at least a year since she'd had to do this. After a couple fumbled attempts she managed to get the door open but stopped only a foot inside the room. A darkened room with Inuyasha sitting in the middle of the bed with a blanket wrapped around him, covering his head, was certainly not what she’d expected to see on the other side.
Hesitantly she made her way over to his side, valiantly ignoring all his snarls and insults to get her to leave. She sat on the bed next to him and gently pulled at the blanket, taking her time with it when he refused to give it up easily. Slowly she got it lowered to his shoulders and gasped at what she saw, eyes widening as he turned his face toward her.
Inuyasha was human.
~ ~ ~
A/N: Not thrilled with this chapter but oh well. It was originally supposed to be longer but the excess is going into chapter 11. I didn’t think anyone would want to read a 30+ page chapter. Hopefully that means next one will be out sooner though. *crosses fingers*
Again, of course, thanks to Akihana for doing beta this chapter and all my lovely reviewers who keep me encouraged to write. Love ya ^_-
mise_keith: I’m so glad you like this fic enough to read it even when it’s not in your native language. (Can you say ego boost? ^_-) And wow, someone who really likes Ryu, eh? Hadn’t put much thought in when I first created him but he’s now endeared himself to me so I’m glad you appreciate him too ^_^
Xryte: Thanks for the appreciation of the bg. I try, though I think I flubber it quite often enough. Oh well. Writing is an art, not a science (luckily enough for me) ^_-
Again, thanks to everyone who reviewed, each and every one is greatly appreciated.
~ ~ ~
Chapter 11: Adaptation
----- A slow, usually unconscious modification of individual and social activity in adjustment to cultural surroundings
~ ~ ~
The two hour train ride was a new experience for Inuyasha, and a terrifying one at that. It wasn’t the speed that got to him – he figured he was capable of nearly the same, though he'd hardly had the opportunity to use it – but the tightly enclosed space with so many human bodies did. Though the smell alone almost overpowered him, what bothered him more was the feeling of being surrounded, closed in.
Kagome was only able to tell in how stiff he held himself. Knowing he’d only become more irritable if she called attention to it she just pretended not to notice, and when she took his hand she tried to make it seem it was only for her own comfort and not for his.
The walk from the train station to her family shrine was nerve-wracking and he plain stopped cold at the foot of the stairs that would lead them the final length. He hadn’t really thought this through, hadn’t considered what it would be like to put himself in a strange household for a month with people he didn’t know, to live at their mercy, with who knew what kinds of threats hanging around…
Kagome jarred him from his tempestuous thoughts by tugging his hand, pulling him up the first step. “Don’t worry about anything. My family will love you; they’re good people.”
The smile she gave him was meant to be reassuring and though he didn’t buy it completely, he wasn’t a coward (and was miffed that she’d even thought he would be worrying, let alone that she was right); he hadn’t come all this way to back down now. Besides, if Kagome had grown up in this household then perhaps it wouldn’t be entirely bad. He almost started at the thought but then mentally shrugged. It’s not like he’d said it out loud and there wasn’t anybody in the area who could read his mind so he was safe.
He trudged awkwardly up the stairs behind her but his impatience won out and in a flurry of motion he caught her up and jumped the remaining distance. Kagome was torn between trying to push her heart back down from where it had taken up residence in her throat and looking in amazement between his face and the spot they’d been dozens of steps lower only seconds prior. Inuyasha chose to ignore her reaction and started toward the main building on the shrine grounds which he assumed must also be her house, stopping only when he reached the door to finally set her down.
She sent him one last quizzical glance before rushing inside, where he only assumed he was supposed to follow after closing the door, and got completely caught up in the whirlwind that was her family. He was able to identify her mother, grandfather, and little brother, from the rundown she’d given him on what he could more or less expect at her home. They were flocked around her as though they hadn’t seen her in years, not just four weeks, and were bombarding the poor girl with three separate but simultaneous strings of questions. His ears flattened reflexively against his head at the clamor of the invasive racket.
Suddenly the little boy spied him and at his exclamation the quartet turned to face him where he’d been forgotten for the moment, lurking in the doorway. When he didn’t immediately start forward Kagome walked back over to him, her face gentle, and grabbed his hand to bring him over to meet her family. Even if he’d tried he wouldn’t have been able to express his gratitude at her keeping her hand in his and grounding him during the tense introductions.
The boy and old man were immediately shooed away by Mrs. Higurashi as she assumed he would be more comfortable meeting them individually than feeling outnumbered. She smiled at him in a way that let him know immediately where Kagome had gotten that particular affectation.
“How was your trip here?”
Inuyasha made a noncommittal sound, head swiveling as he took in all the aspects of the room both to gauge its safety and exit routes but also for simple curiosity's sake
Kagome nudged his ribs with her elbow but answered for him anyway. “It was fine, mama, though his first time on a train was bound to be a bit traumatizing.”
“It was not traumatizing wench!” He glowered at her.
Well, she thought, that certainly got a reaction out of him. She smirked up at his seething face, minutely proud that she’d pulled the expected retort from him. As though he’d just recalled they had an audience in her mother, one he didn’t know and had to live with for the next month no less, he crossed his arms with his typical, “Keh,” though Kagome couldn’t help but notice a faint spattering of pink tinge across his cheeks from his outburst.
Mrs. Higurashi must have noticed as well because she was smiling even wider now. “Since you are the guest of honor this evening, Inuyasha, why don’t you tell me what you would like for dinner?”
He took a long look at her, eyes narrowed as though looking for the trick in the question. When he didn’t sense any trace of humor or duplicity, though, his gaze lost its intensity and he became almost hesitant. There still had to be some kind of catch. No one opened up her house this much to a stranger, let alone a hanyou. Hell, he didn’t even know what food she might have, and since his food was always prepared for him in the Shrine cafeteria he didn’t know what was expensive (though he was sure he’d seen precious little of that in his day) and what wasn’t. Hadn’t Kagome bought a whole load of that ramen stuff because it was cheap? It tasted damn good too…
Before he could talk himself out of changing his mind he blurted out his answer. “Ramen?!”
His voice, tightened in discomfort, exploded with enough force that Mrs. Higurashi actually jumped, but at the slight question in his tone she lowered her hand from her chest, smiled at him yet again – did the woman’s lips ever freeze like that? – and walked to the kitchen to rummage through her cupboards. A moment filled with riffling sounds later, a quick sound of triumph, and she returned carrying the proffered items in her hands and deposited them on the table with a thump.
“Now you two, why don’t you go outside while I’m starting dinner and grandpa can show you where you’ll be staying?”
Kagome shot her mom a confused look. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh my goodness, I hadn’t even told you about our surprise yet. We converted part of one of the old storage sheds into a private room for you. Granted the bathroom is tiny - we picked one of the outbuildings with running water so that you actually have one though, without having to wait another couple days for it to be plumbed in. But the bedroom is decent sized, and quite nicely decorated if I may add, and that way we won’t be in each other’s way.”
Inuyasha immediately seized up at her side, his grip on her hand tightening, and she knew instantly what he’d assumed. “I’m sure it’s not like that,” she tried to assure him, but he wasn’t looking any less rigid.
“Not like what?” her mother asked, glancing between the two as if to pick up on their silent signals.
“That you don’t want a filthy hanyou like me in your house,” he bit off, near to spitting in his anger and self-contempt.
To both his and Kagome’s surprise, Mrs. Higurashi burst out laughing. “Oh my, Inuyasha, but you are a hoot.” Wiping tears from her eyes, she ignored the looks from the two that clearly questioned her sanity. “You obviously don’t know us at all, but I’m sure you’ll learn.”
When her joviality had run its course she stepped up to him, placing a hand on his arm as she let the sincerity and seriousness of her words show on her face. She paid no attention to the way he startled at the contact, having heard some of his history from her daughter, nor the way he stared at her hand like it was an alien object he had no idea what to do with. “In this household you are judged by how you act, not by what kind of blood you carry inside of you.”
His amazement of the woman was doubled by the fact that she hadn’t said he’d receive no judgment at all, that she’d let everything slide on pity – as he always feared – but that he would be known and treated as he deserved based on who he was, not some large, overhanging phantom he had no control over. He would be treated like an individual, like everyone else.
His skepticism must have started to show through because she stepped back and the wry humor was back on her face. “No, the reason we’re placing you two outside is because based on the activities the two of you will be involved in I assumed you would enjoy your privacy.”
“Mother!” Kagome stamped her foot, red faced.
“Besides, that is something I really do not need to have details about and I like my sleep as much as anyone else and do not wish to have it interrupted due to any of your more, ah, lively endeavors.”
Inuyasha felt himself loosening around this woman and almost outright snickered at Kagome’s abject mortification. For the moment though he was worried this all might be a dream. Deciding that if it was, he better make as much use of it as possible before waking, he hastily started towing Kagome out the door behind him in search of their room, Mrs. Higurashi watching from behind, mirthful eyes twinkling.
They were out the door already when Kagome heard her mother calling after her, the slightly worried tone giving her pause, and when Inuyasha turned to follow her back inside she gave him a peck on the cheek. Knowing she’d have to keep him occupied to prevent his tailing her, she asked him to check out the room for them. He merely grunted and turned back around, stalking across the courtyard to where she indicated their makeshift abode would be.
Kagome hurried inside, worried to leave Inuyasha to his own devices for too long in a new place.
“Oh good dear, you heard me,” her mom said quietly from the doorway. “I just wanted to remind you about your grandfather and how he can sometimes go on his rampages about youkai. He’s perfectly harmless, as you well know, but you might want to warn your friend…” Mrs. Higurashi trailed off and Kagome’s eyes filled with horror as a growl filled the space behind her. Without a word to her mother she whirled and ran off in the direction she’d sent Inuyasha.
She found him not a moment later, covered in ineffective ofuda, claws raised at her glaring grandfather. She didn’t think, she just reacted.
“Osuwari!”
Even as she said it she knew it was probably the wrong thing to do but couldn’t think of anything else to diffuse the situation. She immediately ran over to Inuyasha, bending over him to assess the damage, but when it didn’t look like he’d be moving anytime soon she rounded on the man standing behind her.
“Jii-chan! How could you?!” she growled, doing a decent imitation of Inuyasha's mood just seconds prior, indicating the holy papers fluttering slightly in the breeze. “He’s our Tetsudai, our honored guest – you can’t attack him like that!”
“But he’s part youkai! I was trying to do him a favor and purge the beast out of him so he could be full-human and live like a civilized individual.”
Kagome glowered at him, turning her back to kneel at Inuyasha’s side. “There’s no ‘beast’ in him, jii-chan; he’s perfectly civilized just the way he is.”
“He was about to attack me!”
“You attacked him first!”
There was a silent pause where both parties fumed, but finally the older man’s will finally bent slightly when he saw the way she was positively fussing over the hanyou, obviously slightly worried. “Maybe I...shouldn’t have acted so on our first meeting,” he said grudgingly, but then turning to Inuyasha he warned, “but if you harm one hair on my granddaughter’s head you’ll answer to me, you hear?”
Kagome knew that was as close to an apology as they’d get so did nothing more than sigh when her grandfather started back toward the main house. Crouching low, putting her face near his, she slowly reached for Inuyasha’s head. “I’m sorry about him. He doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s harmless, really – ”
“Says who?” he cut her off, cocking his head slightly to look at her. “He acts out of ignorance or disgust or whatever and I’m the one who gets flattened.” She knew he was right, and furthermore, that she was the one who’d seen to it.
“Anything I can do to make it up to you?”
A calculating look came swiftly to his eyes and as his gaze bore into hers he bellowed, “Hey old man, you hear me?”
“What do you want, young’un?” her grandfather griped back, having just made it to the doorway on his aching joints.
“Kagome and I aren’t coming out for a couple days. Make sure to bring our food over to our room and leave us alone. Got it?”
The older man started to complain but when Kagome got past her shock at Inuyasha’s demand she turned to peg her jii-chan with a glare, reminding him that the current predicament was started by him, and she only heard muted grumblings as he shuffled through the door. The way Inuyasha’s ears were shifting she guessed he could make out the words but it didn’t look as if he’d be sharing with her.
Picking himself up he pulled her roughly to her feet and, grabbing her hand fully in his, led her off toward their newly appointed quarters, pausing only when he realized he wasn’t sure exactly where he was supposed to go and tugging her in front of him. Arriving in the room he didn’t even allow her a moment to take in the changes her family had made; he simply closed the door, locked it, and pounced.
~ ~ ~
The first any of her family saw of the two of them again was a full four days later, after they’d christened every available square inch in their spartan bedroom and tiny adjoining bathroom. Her mother had clucked her tongue and immediately forced them to eat copious amounts of food, for though they both glowed with contentment there were most definitely dark circles under her daughter’s eyes.
Kagome, as her mother noticed, hadn’t gotten much sleep, but she didn’t mourn the loss. Quite the opposite, she reveled in it. The first thing Inuyasha told her that first night, once they had paused and were still long enough to attempt speaking again, was that since she bought an entire month with him there would be no more one-hour time constraints. Then of course his eyes had gleamed and he’d informed her that he intended to make up for every single night that he’d been forced to end earlier than desired – so she’d better be prepared to keep up.
She had, even giving him a run for his money, but judging from the faces around the breakfast table this day – from her grandfather’s glower to her mother’s smug, knowing smile, to her brother’s blush and avoidant gaze – it was obvious her family knew exactly what they’d been up to, perhaps even hearing one of their more enthusiastic endeavors, though she cringed at that thought. There were just some things a family wasn’t supposed to share. Then again, most families didn’t bring home their own Tetsudai either, so she figured they’d make do.
Still, everyone got over the initial awkwardness quickly. Inuyasha had somehow loosened up a great deal around her family, which she could only attribute to the heavy satiation and relaxation that must be plaguing him as much as it was her. He was still snarly and aggressive, particularly with her grandfather, but though the fights were annoying it warmed her heart that he felt free enough in her home to speak his mind and be himself.
When it came out at a subsequent meal that Inuyasha had never once played a video game Souta stared at him in horror, then quickly jumped on the idea of having a live-in play buddy, one he could beat pitifully since the hanyou had no prior experience. Little could he predict that his pupil would be so adept that he started whooping him soundly after only one day’s practice, and amusement turned to adoration. The boy skulked around so much in his trail that Kagome would have to literally chase him away from their room when it was time for what they still termed their 'worship ritual'. And though Inuyasha tried to feign irritation at the blatant hero-worship she could see how much it secretly pleased him.
Things were going along swimmingly, which of course meant that fate had to change something soon.
~ ~ ~
Kagome and Inuyasha had finally escaped the wiles of her family for a moment to catch a breath of fresh air by themselves. After those first couple days they hadn’t had much chance to simply be in each other’s presence and she, for one, was craving some quiet solitude with the friend who was quickly growing in her esteem.
She led him deeper into the forest her family maintained on the back of their property, knowing that he’d like the open land, surrounded by nature with not a single other being or building in sight. She felt gratified when she saw him close his eyes and breathe in deeply, taking in the clean air with only the faintest hint of city smells, but when he opened his eyes and pegged them on her there was a heat in them that had nothing to do with the setting – or perhaps everything to do with it.
Jerking abruptly, she backed up until she felt a tree behind her, then with a wry smile and a quirk of her head she turned and fled. Inuyasha was confused for a moment until he saw her turn her head and laugh, finally noticing that she was barely managing a jog. No, she had no desire to get away from him at all.
And suddenly everything in him released.
He bolted forward but kept to either side of her, boxing her in but never impeding her progress, enjoying the game and build up of anticipation more than anything he could remember. He found he was actually having fun stalking her like his prey and thrilled in the control he had, that he could end this silly chase at any time, exhilarated that she was laughing and playing because of him.
She ran into a dense copse of trees where she could go no further without getting ripped up by the thick thorny bushes and turned to find him closing in on her. He prowled in slowly, eyes gleaming, and her smile died on her lips and her gaze turned smoldering. Though the chase hadn’t winded him at all his breathing was harsh, excited and pleased as he was in winning their little game. She wanted him so badly in that moment she could taste it but she loved the heightened tension and was determined to draw it out, so even as he advanced she backed away until she abutted another tree.
Then she waited.
The friction was so thick in the air she thought she might suffocate on it if he didn’t pick up his pace; as it was her heart was beating rapidly in her throat and she couldn’t have willed herself to move to him if she’d tried.
Inuyasha moved forward in a haze, blind and deaf to all sensations other than the roar of blood in his ears, the vision of beauty standing before him. Without realizing it he’d stopped while still a few feet away from her, just taking in the moment, but after hearing her small growl of frustration and impatience at his lack of momentum he sprung to life.
There was no preamble at all. He jumped – no pounced Kagome thought fit better – over the last remaining distance and before she could tell how he’d done it he had her shirt up to her neck and her skirt at her hips, his own covered erection rocking viciously against her, causing her to cry out and buck against him.
She ground herself back fervently but he ignored the plea and caught up her hands in his when she tried to make her way down to his hakama ties. Instead he roughly pushed her further into the bark of the tree, only satisfied when she gasped for him, then pinning both of her hands above her head, he pulled her bra down, the bunched fabric pushing her breasts up to his greedy mouth, his harsh nips.
His free hand moved from her breast to her hips, then swiftly enough that she didn’t break stride, he pulled his hips back from hers and covered her with his hand, plunging two fingers up inside of her. She hadn’t even noticed but their movements had pushed her far enough up the tree so that her feet didn’t touch the ground and so all of her weight at that moment was dangling from Inuyasha’s grip on her wrists or rested on his fingers, pushing him inexorably deeper. The only way she could manage any leverage was to pull herself up against his hand but it wasn’t enough and her arms were shaky from the roiling mess he was creating inside her. She tried to lift her legs around his waist but stopped when Inuyasha warned her off with a growl. Instead he lifted her higher and made her ride his fingers. His thumb curled up to caress her engorged clit and he curled his digits inside of her, pushing against the sides of her walls, almost stroking.
Later Kagome would be grateful for the relative seclusion of the place as biting her lips no longer seemed able to stem the tide of her moans, gasps, and occasional whimpers, especially when he momentarily took all of her remaining weight from her hands and lowered her fully onto a third finger.
The next time, when she lifted her legs to grip herself against him, he didn’t argue, and she pulled her hands free from his to attack his hakama. No sooner did she have the ties undone than he was in her, hot, scalding, pulsing – every nerve in her sensitized to his presence around her, inside of her. He thrust violently and she matched his every move as they scrabbled at each other, needy fingers digging into flesh, moving fabric aside to get to skin.
When finally Kagome climaxed she screamed aloud, sharp and piercing, though in his haze Inuyasha didn’t find the note painful as much as beautiful. As if it had been a signal he’d been waiting for he redoubled his efforts, shortening his thrusts and reveling in the feeling of her quivering from post-coital sensitivity. With a growl that he buried against her throat he spent himself in her, then when his legs could no longer hold the two of them up, he slid down to his knees on the ground, dragging Kagome down with him until she was cradled in his lap, legs still wrapped around him, his sweaty forehead sticking to her chest.
It took him a few moments to come back to himself but he was dimly aware that something wasn’t right. A niggling sensation was building in the back of his mind until it thrust itself forward into his consciousness with a giant leap after one deep inhalation.
“You’re bleeding.” He spat the words like an accusation and Kagome, who was still too happy to register the specifics of his words and just nodded, mumbling a sleepy affirmation.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He grabbed her by the arms and pushed her back from him so he could see her and the look on her face snapped the last of her lethargy from her. He looked stricken and, if she wasn’t mistaken, his face was paler than normal – which was especially unusual considering he'd normally still be flushed from what they’d just done. She wasn’t sure what the problem was but knew she’d do anything to wipe that expression from him.
She put her hands to his face and smiled gently. “In case you didn’t notice, I was enjoying myself thoroughly. I don’t mind at all that I got a little scratched during all the fun.”
From the amount of blood in the air he wasn’t put off by her usage of the term ‘scratch.’ “Let me see,” he growled.
Knowing there was no use arguing as he could just as easily flip her around himself she decided to oblige his temper and stood to turn. Her entire back was reddened from hips to shoulders from where he’d pulled her shirt up and pushed her against the tree. Mostly it was just rubbed raw but there were some deeper scratches and cuts that had bled out. She was sure she’d be sore for a couple days, perhaps stiff from any spots that might scab over, but the first was nothing new for her after one of their trysts. Still, Inuyasha looked as though the world had just come to a stop.
“Oh, for goodness sake, I'm not that fragile; stop looking at me like I’m going to drop dead. I’m not going to break and can handle a little blood loss. Besides, this is nothing compared to anything you’ve gone through so don’t freak out about it.”
“What the fuck do you mean you’re not fragile?! In case you haven’t noticed, wench, I’m hanyou, while you’re a weak little human. I could have hurt you. I did hurt you.”
He stood suddenly, hurriedly dressing her and only succeeding in pulling her skirt and bra back into order before shoving her shirt into her arms, then put his shoulder to her stomach and lifted her off the ground.
“Inuyasha!” she gasped, vainly trying to both keep her skirt from flying up and keep herself from falling out of her flimsy, insubstantial bra (the kind she'd taken to wearing only for his benefit, she thought snidely), covering whatever else she could with the shirt she carried, all while attempting to pull on his hair enough to get him to release her. “What do you think you are doing?”
“Taking you home to get you fixed.”
She nearly went cross-eyed at that response. Being held upside down and having one’s head bounced against a back – albeit it a very nice, attractive, nicely muscled back – certainly didn’t help. He could not seriously mean to take her to her mother dressed like she was; there was no way she’d ever live down the mortification.
“Do you really want my family to see me like this?” she demanded, outraged at his presumption.
He stiffened, his desire to get Kagome properly seen to warring with his pride and having to admit his folly to her family, and finally he caved to her wishes.
“Fine, I’ll fix you myself. You have stuff in that room of yours?”
She thought about it. There hadn’t exactly been much time to explore the deeper recesses of their room, bathroom, and the storage building it was part of, but with her grandfather’s propensity for collecting random junk she was sure there’d be something of use laying around. She didn't bother to voice her opinion that she didn’t need bandaging, knowing he’d just bulldoze by that thought anyhow.
“I’m sure there’s something. If nothing else I can tell you where supplies are in the main house.” He stiffened again and Kagome guessed he wouldn’t want to explain to her family why he needed the bandages, but she’d cross that hurdle if it arose.
At that moment she couldn’t bring herself to care as she was suddenly paralyzed with the fear of discovery as they stepped from the forest into the courtyard. She didn’t think she could face anyone if they found her as she was displayed over Inuyasha’s shoulder. Luckily they made it into their room with no mishaps. He located some gauze and some old sticky ointment quickly and began to work on her back, stripping her completely to make sure he didn’t miss a single scratch anywhere.
She almost could have sunk into the mattress and relaxed at the touch of his hands, alternating between fierce and gentle, but she could all too clearly picture the way he must be mentally berating himself. Had she known he’d blow things so out of proportion she might have stopped things before they could go too far, but she’d had fun, damn it, and so had he!
He propped her up on the bed until she was sitting and wrapped the bandages all the way around her stomach in order to cover her back and, while she was touched, she’d had enough.
“Inuyasha, I want you to stop beating yourself up right now.”
“What makes you think you know what I’m doing? Besides, if your ningen bodies weren’t so pathetically shielded maybe things like this wouldn’t happen.”
He glared at her as if she had no idea what was going on in his head but sometimes he was still easy for her to read. It was now though that she understood there was something much deeper to this issue. However, given that she was sure he wasn’t about to explain the problem to her she just had to go on fixing what she could for the moment. She’d have to try figuring out the recesses of his psyche another time.
“I enjoyed what we did, so what’s the problem? If I liked it there’s nothing for you to feel guilty about. Please…just tell me you’re alright?” she finally pleaded, all the vinegar taken out of her.
“I’m not the one who got hurt.”
His refusal to answer lit a final fire inside her though and she snapped at him briefly. “You didn’t enjoy what we did then, weren’t excited by it at all? Was I the only one taking pleasure in the moment out there?”
He flinched slightly, only noticeable to her because his hands were still on his skin, but he still stubbornly refused to concede her point.
Sighing, she resigned herself to putting up with an ancy hanyou for the next few days until she could finally coax him out of his mood.
Unfortunately, he more than just lived up to her expectations. From that point on he treated her like she was made of china and sometimes she just wanted to pull on her hair and scream in frustration. The only time he argued with her was when she brought up his sour temperament; other than that he acted as if he suddenly had the same opinion as her on absolutely everything. It was even to where all the wild edge, spunk, and spontaneity had gone out of their nights and every action, every touch was a study in gentility.
Though the majority of the time that annoyed her she had to admit that inwardly she sometimes liked it. She loved the passion he evoked in her but this rare glimpse into his tender side made a small corner of her heart melt...when it wasn’t still raging at him for thinking she was too weak to take anything more - as if she hadn’t proven so and done so time and time again with him already.
She had wracked her mind about how to help get him past this hurdle and nothing seemed to help – it was as if this tiny infraction had traumatized a small portion of him and she didn’t know what to do.
While she wasn’t sure she could say she’d ever get used to his moods she knew how he reacted. He had a tendency to hold onto things and drag them out for days but in the time she’d known him he always got over it and moved on. This situation was a phenomenon in that it was nearly the exact opposite. As the days passed he seemed to get even more withdrawn and irritable and she was at a complete loss as to what to do.
Things came to a head in the middle of their third week back. Inuyasha had been sulking all day, alternately grousing and picking fights for no reason, to the point where Kagome had finally sent him out of the kitchen where she was cooking dinner with her mother. He grumbled all the way back to their room and when she came to get him to eat she found he’d locked the door on her.
She fumed; of all the ridiculous things! He was acting downright childish. Calling him brought no response until she started banging on the door hard enough she worried the fragile workmanship would give. Apparently he must have had the same thought because he finally deigned to answer with a short, “Go away!”
He didn’t know her temperament very well if he thought that command would help his cause at all. She left the door long enough to locate the toolbox hidden in one of the back recesses of the storage room then dug out a flathead screwdriver and put it to the doorjamb. It was a simple enough way to get a door open - sliding the bolt open with the tool, and both she and Souta had learned the trick relatively young as many of the vast array of rooms in the storage sheds tended to get 'accidentally' locked - but it had been at least a year since she'd had to do this. After a couple fumbled attempts she managed to get the door open but stopped only a foot inside the room. A darkened room with Inuyasha sitting in the middle of the bed with a blanket wrapped around him, covering his head, was certainly not what she’d expected to see on the other side.
Hesitantly she made her way over to his side, valiantly ignoring all his snarls and insults to get her to leave. She sat on the bed next to him and gently pulled at the blanket, taking her time with it when he refused to give it up easily. Slowly she got it lowered to his shoulders and gasped at what she saw, eyes widening as he turned his face toward her.
Inuyasha was human.
~ ~ ~
A/N: Not thrilled with this chapter but oh well. It was originally supposed to be longer but the excess is going into chapter 11. I didn’t think anyone would want to read a 30+ page chapter. Hopefully that means next one will be out sooner though. *crosses fingers*
Again, of course, thanks to Akihana for doing beta this chapter and all my lovely reviewers who keep me encouraged to write. Love ya ^_-
mise_keith: I’m so glad you like this fic enough to read it even when it’s not in your native language. (Can you say ego boost? ^_-) And wow, someone who really likes Ryu, eh? Hadn’t put much thought in when I first created him but he’s now endeared himself to me so I’m glad you appreciate him too ^_^
Xryte: Thanks for the appreciation of the bg. I try, though I think I flubber it quite often enough. Oh well. Writing is an art, not a science (luckily enough for me) ^_-
Again, thanks to everyone who reviewed, each and every one is greatly appreciated.