InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Silence the Fairytale ❯ Seasons of Change-Part 1 ( Chapter 24 )

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

A/n: *swoons* Already an automatic response to the last chapter. Luna is so happy with all the reviews <3!!!! I don't know what to do with them! 160 already! 'Sleep Paralysis' has 40 chapters and 165 reviews. Holy crap! *faints*

LadyCash: I shall write more! :D!

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Feudal Teller of Tales: *squeaks happily* I love bundles of baby. And no, my bundle of baby has not decided to face the world yet, and I hope he stays in there for another month like he's supposed to. *pokes tummy* And baby insects are icky... T_T... Sorry for the shortness. :x. And you're so cute with the fidget-y! *pats*

Ginny: What does your sign in name mean o.o? Kokoro means heart, I know that, but... what is the rest :3? Anyway, thank you very much :D. I'm happy you enjoyed the chapter.

Sparkly Faerie: I can't keep it sad too long, and it's hard because this was originally supposed to be angst. Agh! *falls over* I'm happy I changed my tune, I have so many angsty and this is the only comedy I'm running. Ironically, my most popular story too >>;;. Lol. People just like happy, ne? I'm happy you were giggling :). It means I did my job right.

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*sighs happily* Thank you for the reviews guys! You're so awesome! ^_^!

Luna-



Of course, Inuyasha's predictions came true. Kami-sama did indeed have it out for him, he decided.

It only started with what seemed like innocent sneezes, until one day later they had turned into full-on hacking and sniffing.

Kagome came down with a terrible cold due to her water excursions.

And when he came to her after three days of restless worrying and hovering over her with a clay cup full of some unidentified liquid which smelled something awful putrid, Kagome was skepitcal to say the least.

There was arguing and cursing.

On one end the insistant hanyou, on the other a teenage ningen female who was as bullheaded as he was.

And quite plausibly hormonal.

The epic battle raged on for four hours, with added interference of the gluttonous Buyo the cat who tried to drink the concotion of medicine Inuyasha had made for Kagome.

He rapped the cat on the head which sent him scampering for some dark corner of the cave to hide for numerous hours, and Kagome yelling at him for 'picking on the poor thing'.

Though, Inuyasha refuted, saying if the cat had the constitution to drink the medicine, he could handle a little bop on the head.

To that, Kagome could not argue.

All in all, the tyrst ended with Inuyasha pinning Kagome and pratically forcing her to drink it.

She sputtered, and fought, but it was all to no avail.

A silent treatment ensued thereafter, leaving Inuyasha to sulk on the other side of the den quietly.

This lasted until dinnertime.

They came to some sort of truce after they had eaten, settled in on some dry foliage Inuyasha had managed to find, and fell asleep close to one another.

In the middle of the night, Buyo found his way inbetween the two of them.

When they woke the next morning, Inuyasha found Kagome looking much better. Luckily, the cave was rather comfortable when lit with a small fire, and Kagome was never too cold.

Though, he had not let her go outside in quite a number of days.

It took another two full days before he let her go, during which he had scavanged for anything to make their life for the following months a bit more comfortable.

He had managed to find a couple of old clay dishes and bowls, a large wooden bucket and a clay pot. Some dried herbs that could be used as a mild antiseptic and some random bits of cloth.

Inuyasha refused to let Kagome bathe in the river anymore, and so he would bring water to her by the bucket and heat it on the fire with the clay pot.

They used the scraps of cloth to wash themselves, and Kagome found herself refreshed afterward if not a bit shy when Inuyasha volunteered himself to help her get to those hard to reach places. Though, as always, he was extremely respectful and was sure not to let his hands wander or slip by mistake to any place she might have been embarrassed by. And not for the first time, Kagome found herself adoring him for his consideration. Especially after he placed his haori upon her shoulders so she may cover herself up easily afterward.

At that time, Inuyasha knew they would need more than just that. And after they had gone outside just so Kagome could have some fresh air... they were greeted by the first snow of the year.

...it was always a favorite time of Inuyasha's, while he was with Kagome.

She would give a happy squeal, do some sort of dance, and become flushed from the biting temperatures.

It was then he would know it was offically the winter season.

Insisting she go back inside since she had only recently gotten better, and could relapse, she relented reluctantly under his logical reasoning.

A week later of preparing food, and scavanging for enough firewood to last them a good long while, Inuyasha took a trip to Edo.

Only after making sure Kagome would be comfortable enough, of course.

The trip lasted longer than expected, due to some harsher weather, and it took five days instead of three.

Once there, Inuyasha bought Kagome several heavy kimono as well as numerous new sleeping kimono, a new longbow and a bundle of arrows, a new quiver and food to add to their reserves... clay wares, a hand carved bone comb and a jade comb, as well as a mirror for Kagome.

He was met with a hostile temprament, but he was in too much a rush to start any fights.

Though, he did haggle like the devil. He refused to be cheated because of his heritage.

This surprised many of the townsmen. He wasn't the ruffian they had assumed him to be, but when he left there were nonetheless nasty stares.

One thing was for sure, though...

Inuyasha left with empty pockets.

And when he returned home to the worrying Kagome, he was greeted gleefully.

Though, when he presented his gifts to her proudly, he did not receive the reaction he had expected.

"BAKA! Why did you waste the money like that?! What if we needed food later, huh?!"

In an angry fit, Inuyasha cursed and said, "FINE!", and proceeded to try and break the combs and mirror.

Luckily, Kagome saved them just in time.

And to soothe his bruised pride and hurt feelings, Kagome wore them, saying she really did love them but just had not expected something so nice.

He harrumphed, and said nothing, but seemed to be in better spirits by it.

And she wore them as often as she dare without breaking the fragile things.

They were very useful to keep her rapidly growing hair out of her face while she went about chores everyday, and made her feel very feminine.

The mirror held a special place for her.

Kagome knew they were rare, and knew Inuyasha must have fought a hefty battle and paid a handsome price for it.

It made her want to get him something in return, but Kagome did not know how to make the money to get him a gift. He had always lavished her and spoiled her when he could, and she wanted to get him something nice and rather extraordinary.

Without a means to accomplish what she wanted she put the idea in the back of her mind for the time being.

To pass time then, Kagome practiced with the longbow when the weather permitted. It was a bit harder to use than the shortbow she was used to, and often the string left her forearm bruised because she lacked a brace to take the brunt of the blow when it snapped. When Inuyasha finally saw this, he grumbled at his own forgetfulness, and allowed her to borrow his outer haori when she praticed. He had no way to get her a brace at that point, having no money left and nothing to even trade with.

When Kagome suggested using one of her gifts as barter, he nearly bit her head off. Another arguement occurred, and once again she had him wondering if she really didn't like the items... and once again, she went through a lengthy show to make him feel better.

She never brought them up again.

Quite often, she was stuck inside with Buyo. Sometimes, Inuyasha would disappear for short periods with no explanation of where he went. When he would return, he always had something different... maybe a hare, or a fish. Wood to dry out for their fires, or branches and stones to make crude arrows from... instead of her wasting her good arrows merely on practice.

Her only source of real entertainment, however, was making sure Buyo exercised enough to not become an immovable mass, and conversations with Inuyasha. She never knew how interesting he could be as he explained to her what it was like one hundred years before, or two hundred years before, and told tales of his harsh childhood. Full of rejection, an orphan, and the struggles he had when he went on his own into the world. She listened advently, and seldom interrupted his storytelling.

As time went by, their sleeping arrangements became different. In the night, Kagome would unconsciously seek his warmth, until one day she awoke in his arms. Thoroughly abashed, and knowing they had done it only once before, she apologized. He seemed put off by it, though, and left soon after.

But for days on end, they woke in the same exact way, and every morning she would apologize until the time he told her to just shut up because he didn't mind.

Things would go on this way for quite a while.

The day came Kagome finally suffered cabin fever, and after two months of being couped up inside, begged to travel like they had before.

Inuyasha refused flat out at first, but after days of pleading he relented... on the condition they travel no more than two days from the den.

Kagome readily agreed, knowing she would not get more than that.

The snow on the ground was thick, and Inuyasha carried Kagome in his arms to avoid her getting wet. It was awkward, her layers of kimono bunching up and the obi knot that held them in place coming undone at times, but still she insisted.

Sometimes, they would come across a village, and one time about two weeks after they began their travels they happened upon one being terrorized by a bear youkai. Inuyasha easily dispatched this, of course, and the villagers praised him and thanked him, asking him what he might wish for in return.

All he had to do was look at Kagome, who wore inhibiting kimono that were difficult to travel in to know what he wanted.

"Two sets of hakama and kimono shirt for the girl," he indicated Kagome with a nod of the head.

"For the Miko-sama?" they asked, for they had seen her fire a sacred arrow during the battle. "Happily!"

And thus, Kagome received her first set of miko garbs.

The village elder allowed her use of his hut when she changed, red hakama pants and white kimono shirt, as well as a long red ribbon in her hair beside her combs.

Inuyasha was struck with nostalgia, as he tended to do at times when he looked into those large blue eyes, and found himself murmuring, "Kikyo..." at the sight of her.

Fortunately, Kagome never heard, and asked him how she looked.

He smiled sadly, and said it suited her.

Inuyasha offered his services, saying if they ever needed help again to go looking for him and call his name in the forest to the north for the kindness they had shown him and Kagome.

After that, they departed.

It was about half a moon cycle before the New Year, and Kagome's birthday that Inuyasha regretted the offer.

Word quickly spread of the hanyou and the miko who exterminated youkai for villagers, and they came flocking to them for help from all over Musashi.

At first, only stragglers came. Desperate men that begged him for help, offering Inuyasha whatever he wished from their villages if only he might come. While he might have tried and refused, saying it was none of his concern, Kagome stepped up and obliged the men before he may.

For the first time, they left Buyo behind because of the danger, and remembered his hinderance during the fight with the bear youkai.

"The damn coward," Inuyasha had grumbled, leaving out about two days worth of food for the cat, and Kagome noted that she hoped Buyo did not eat it all in one sitting.

Inuyasha shared the same sentiments, though he did not voice them, and allowed Kagome on his back. She had her bow and arrows strapped to her back, as well as a small sack of supplies.

They set off, and accomplished what they needed to in less than a full day.

Inuyasha had declined anything from the villagers, seeing how poor they were, but one insistant woman gave Kagome a beautiful silk obi that had been an heirloom in the family. Kagome all but freaked, saying she could not accept something so beautiful, and the woman defuted, saying if not for their kindess she would not have a family to pass the heirloom on to.

Kagome was speechless at this, and with Inuyasha, went back to the den the following morning.

When they entered the cave, Kagome became immediately angry and chased Buyo around in punishment.

He had, once more, eaten all the food they had left him and more.

And once she got hold of the cat, she went outside and put him in the snow as punishment, getting his poor little paws wet and cold.

He mewled something fierce, obviously begging a wrathful Kagome for forgiveness, rubbing against her leg and pawing at her hakama pants to pick him up and end his suffering.

His cuteness was her downfall and she caved in after all but three minutes.

Buyo still went without dinner that night, though he asked.

Kagome wondered if there was an abyss in place of his stomach.

"How can that damn cat still be hungry when he ate nearly three days worth of food in one and a half?!"

Kagome shook her head helplessly, and ate her dinner.

...their answer to the Buyo mystery came a few short days later, a week before Kagome's birthday, and the night of the new moon.

By then, the snow had begun to melt, and the days were only slightly warmer.

But it was proof that spring had finally come.

Kagome, as was habitual, was trying to cheer Inuyasha up. He looked dismal, his hair and eyes dark, and was always rather moody then. Sometimes, Kagome would make fun of him, saying he acted the way she did during her bleeding time of the month.

He was always mortified by the comparison, and would sputter, but would forget his grouchiness.

Kagome loved to tease him this way, but spared him from it most of the time.

This night, she had conviced him to let her comb his long hair. At first he fought the idea, but after a pretty amount of pleading and pouting, he gave into her wishes. He seemed stiff at first, but relaxed under her careful touches soon thereafter, and even began to enjoy her attentions. Though he tried to hide it, Kagome knew by the way he tilted his head back ever so slightly and closed his eyes as if in deep meditation.

Tessaiga laid against his shoulder, but appeared to be more slack than usual considering he did not hold it like he was prone to do.

It was during this time Buyo had disappeared, and they heard strange sounds coming from the back of their abode.

At first, Inuyasha told Kagome to stay back, pulling out the rusty katana of Tessaiga's untransformed state from out of its sheath. And though Kagome listened, she still knocked an arrow on her longbow, pointing it in the direction of the noises.

They were soft, nearly undetectable, and Inuyasha had a hard time locating them as a human.

But when he finally found what was making the sounds, he let out a shout of surprise.

"Holy shit!"

Kagome blinked.

"What?"

He only motioned for her to come, and she slowly went up behind him, looking over his shoulder and behind the rock that hid their little miracle.

There Buyo was, nursing a tiny little kitten.

Only a singular kitten.

"What the hell?! I thought Buyo was a 'he'!" Inuyasha grumped, looking at their new little bundle of joy.

Kagome simply cooed, taking the little kitten from her mother, and Kagome swooned.

"Kawa---iiii!"

Its eyes were already open, a startling red, and Inuyasha made a discovery.

"Uh... why the hell does it have two tails?"

Kagome lifted the kitten up further, and sure enough, there were two tails instead of the usual one.

"...uh? I dunno?"

Inuyasha frowned down at Buyo, and he snipped, "Only that cat would have weirdo kittens. And have only one. What kind of litter is that?"

Kagome frowned and quipped, "Who cares? She's so cute!"

Kagome cuddled the small kitten who mewled in her hands, begging for her dinner to be returned to her.

And Kagome listened, placing the small kitten with her docile lump of a mother.

"I want to name her Kirakira!" Kagome pledged gleefully, causing Inuyasha to face fault.

"There's nothing sparkly about her!" Inuyasha protested the girly name.

Kagome fumed at being challenged, and pointed at her giant ruby eyes, "They're like jewels! Kirakira!"

Inuyasha grumbled, scowling in detest at the name, "Can't we compromise? Like... Kirara?"

Kagome pouted, but only slightly, and agreed in the end for Inuyasha's sake.

"Fine... Kirara is pretty too."

They left the two alone, only after surrounding them with cloth to keep them warm, and went to their beds... actual futons from helping out a certain village from a mantis youkai. Getting them to their home was a feat only Inuyasha could have accomplished while also travelling with Kagome, and they were immediately pushed together when he got them through the small opening of the cave.

Kagome curled up against Inuyasha's side, as he wrapped one arm around her shoulder absently and gave her a mild hug. Kagome twirled one lock of Inuyasha's hair around her finger, and she looked up at him.

For one of the rarer times, Inuyasha actually had his eyes closed as a human. She knew he was intending to sleep, though she was feeling talkative.

And she battled the urge to talk with him, knowing he must have been tired if he were resting like that, but the urge won as it always did.

There were nights she just couldn't shut up, and it seemed this would be one of them.

"Inuyasha?"

He cracked one violet-black eye open lazily at her and questioned sleepily, "Whuh?"

"What are we going to do when the snows fully melt?"

Inuyasha cracked a jaw-splitting yawn and scratched at his chest with one hand.

"...I guess leave, and continue travelling. I've been bored."

Kagome blinked her eyes at him slowly, pushing her unruly hair from her face and bashing once again the fact she wished she could at least clean up the pesky mass.

Sometimes she felt it was a bird's nest, and if it weren't for Inuyasha's combs, it would have been so. It tangled over the damnest thing, and it took forever to get out the knots in the morning.

She even tried braiding it at night, but that only helped a little. It seemed to knot together instead, and Kagome would whine in her thoughts about her luck.

Kagome shifted, and Inuyasha seemed to sense her indecision.

"What is it? Did you want to stay?"

Kagome shook her head in the negative, and began hesitantly, "It's not that... but..."

Inuyasha arched one eyebrow, seeming to read her thoughts.

"...but you like it here, and you don't want to give it up?"

Kagome nodded.

"Yeah... I want to travel too, because I get bored, but I would like to come here every once in a while."

Inuyasha tilted his head down at her and seemed to consider it.

"...All right. We'll come here if we can during my human time, just like tonight, okay? But only if we're not too far away."

Kagome smiled, and he knew that was satisfactory to her.

"Now get some sleep. Who knows? We might get company again tomorrow. Damn youkais have been keeping us busy."

Nodding, Kagome nestled against his side and closed her eyes... but she did not miss his muttering.

"...though, I don't recall so many youkai ever being in this region before..."

And in this way, they fell asleep.

In the morning, with Inuyasha's hanyou senses returned, Inuyasha solved the puzzle of the two-tailed kitten.

"She half-youkai..." he murmured, sniffing the small animal that currently laid in the palm of one of his hands.

Kagome squealed happily.

"She's a hanyou?! Just like you?!"

Inuyasha snorted and looked at Kagome. "It's a little different. There are some youkai that aren't humanoid. It seems Kirara's father was a nekomata of some sort..."

Kagome tilted her head in slight puzzlement, but blew it off with a wave of the hand. "She's so cute, it doesn't matter. We'll just take care of her like we care for Buyo."

Inuyasha snorted, and placed the small kitten down delicately, and stood.

"Another mouth to feed... ah well. Maybe she'll be useful... nekomata have powers too, but we'll have to wait until she's older to figure out what it is. For now, we just gotta watch out and make sure she's taken care of."

Kagome smiled and winked, "That should be no problem."

And it wasn't.

Kagome took after Buyo and Kirara with fervent affection, making sure the mother and her brood were well taken care of.

Three days later and the new year was offically upon them, though they hardly celebrated. They had already taken to the road, and were too busy travelling to stop.

...they were going to Edo, unbeknownst to Kagome for her birthday.

She had left most of her nicer kimono at the cave, as well as her mirror, and many other trinkets that were just too much to carry with them. She was certain that the cave would not be found for they had covered the entrance with a large boulder... and even if they hadn't, it was well hidden behind shrubs and trees, barely visible to the outside.

The only illogical thing she brought were her combs, a casual set of kimono and tabi socks, as well as another pair of geta, an extra hair ribbon, an elaborate roll of silk from one of their exursions, and some jerky inside a pack.

To avoid breaking both combs, she generally wore the ivory one tucked on the side of her head and kept the jade comb on the inside of her kimono, next to her heart.

Her longbow and quiver strapped to her back, and Buyo carried her kitten inside her mouth like the wonderful mother she was turning out to be. And the kitten seemed to be as docile as the mother, hanging from the scruff of her neck without complaint for hours on end... that was, until she was hungry.

Kagome had also fashioned a sort of 'kimono' for the kitten to keep it warm in the cooler temperatures, making sure it was thick enough to shield it from any of the harsher weather.

When they arrived in Edo the morning of her birthday, Kagome was more than pleasantly surprised.

She bounded into Inuyasha's arms, excited and happy, and he smiled.

The day was only for her.

She was able to do whatever she pleased.

And the first order on her agenda was to stuff her face, which to Inuyasha readily agreed.

They were quite a sight to see, both of them sitting in the tea house while served sweet buns and dumplings with green tea.

Buyo sat at Kagome's feet with her new kitten while Kagome snuck her pieces of dumpling underneath the table, all the while ignoring the looks she was receiving...

The whispers of the 'miko' with the 'filthy' hanyou fell on her deaf ears, and Inuyasha chose to ignore them for the time being... he wished only for Kagome to have a good day.

By mid morning, Kagome was wandering the street vendors, sampling bits of tempura and sashimi, smiling all the while. She bought some fresh tuna and squid for a nice dinner that night, though Inuyasha made a sour face. He preferred red meat to seafood, though Kagome ignored him and assured that it would be good.

She also bought sweet rice wing vineager to season the fish, as well as dried seaweed and rice.

And a small bag of leftovers only for Buyo as a special treat.

Midday, they came across street performers, and they stayed to watch as Kagome was delighted, clapping her hands enthusiastically to the music and laughing.

Inuyasha 'keh'ed, saying he could perform the same tricks the acrobatic performers did, and Kagome fumed.

Only a bit.

But she pointed out that he had an advantage, and that it was almost like cheating, so it couldn't be compared.

Inuyasha was a bit put out by this, wishing he received the same praise from Kagome the performers did... and he couldn't help thinking they couldn't do anything half as well as he.

Though he kept his mouth shut, for the sake of a good day.

Their little tyrst did not last long, and Kagome was soon in pleasant spirits again even if Inuyasha remained a little miffed. Though that was cured the moment Kagome baffled him something spectacular.

Her eyes had lit up, as in in great epiphany, and ordered Inuyasha to wait for her there and close his eyes.

Too puzzled by her strange command to argue, he did as he was told.

His ears twitched in curiousity when he heard the sound of her rushing across the street, pushing through the people, her bartering with someone, the sound of her rushing back towards him, and the clanking of beads.

"Open your eyes!"

When he did, he was greeted by the sight of a kotodama rosary, a strange thing to acquire on the streets of Edo... then again, they were on the streets of Edo. Inuyasha was pretty sure there was absolutely nothing that couldn't be obtained from some dark corner of the city, but that was another story altogether.

"Whassat?" he asked, rather inarticulately in his bewilderment.

Kagome pouted and thrust it once more in his face. "It's for you! Put it on!"

He stared at her blankly, too shocked to do as he was told, and she sighed in annoyance as she put it over his head for him. She had to stand on her tip toes to do so.

"Whasitfer?" he blurted once again.

Kagome turned pink in the cheeks and lifted one finger up to him. "It's a gift, baka."

"...eh...?" he questioned.

Kagome darkened.

"It's for... gah! Just wear it!" she ordered, and was not answered by any further interrogation.

Crossing her arms and huffing, there was a moment of awkward silence between the two.

She was interrupted in her mid-thought rant by his voice, which was unusually soft.

"...Kagome?"

She turned to glare at him, and bit out, "What?"

He ignored it, and simply offered her a quiet smile.

"Thanks."

Her blush shot down her neck and she stuttered, "S-sure..."

He chuckled at her, and took her hand.

"Let's go do more things, okay?"

She nodded, smiling ever so gently as they continued on their little birthday adventure.

Lunch consisted of white rice with soy sauce and miso soup, as well as yakitori. Kagome gagged at the bits of chicken she was not quite so used to, but Inuyasha ate it whole with the iron stomach of his.

He even asked to have the rest of Kagome's when she could not finish, and she happily relinquished it.

She got more sweet cakes to down, trying to flush out the odd tastes.

Towards the end of the day, Kagome got the last of her three gifts of Inuyasha.

The first was a kanzashi hair ornament that was made of mother of pearl, a plum blossom with a single trail of what look like petals no longer than three inches.

Next was the tiniest bottle of perfume, smelling of some sort of soft floral scent and a gentle tea Kagome could not identify, but fell in love with anyway.

And the last was a delicate strand of dark green glass beads that hung just on her collar bone.

Kagome flushed and smiled softly, and happily tried on the perfume, and put on the beads... but when she went to put on the kanzashi, Inuyasha shook his head.

"Save that for a special occasion," he requested.

She nodded happily and smiled, placing the ornament in one of her billowing sleeves for safekeeping.

Two hours before sunset, Inuyasha insisted they leave. Though he didn't divulge the reason why, Kagome took Buyo and Kirara into her arms and Inuyasha leaped away from Edo.

When they arrived at their destination, Kagome was speechless.

He had brought them to the coastline, where the sun kissed the horizon and the water sparkled at the end of the day.

"...it's like gems..." Kagome breathed lightly, taken by the beautiful scenary.

Inuyasha laughed.

"You like kirakira? There it is for you."

Inuyasha took the bags that held their dinner from Kagome, and began preparing it while she stared off at the sunset.

"Thank you..." Kagome sighed softly, turning to Inuyasha in the dying light. And when he lifted his eyes, his breath was taken away by the sight of her bathed in gold, and she seemed to shine.

"...today... was the best day of my life," she smiled at him, ever so gently, her eyes tender and adoring to him.

Inuyasha lowered his head, trying to hide the blush that had found its way there and he mumbled, "Keh. You should have had a good day. It's your sixteenth turning. You're a real woman now."

Kagome sat down next to him, her eyes fixated at the distance as Inuyasha cooked their dinner for her without complaint. She was grateful that he would go so far to make things so perfect for her. And once again she was assauged in her heart that there was no where else she would rather be...

The meal was delicious, and Buyo was fed heartily with the bundle of scraps that were given to her, and she downed them all while little Kirara nursed on her.

It seemed everything was perfect, and right in the world that day.

None of the painful memories, scars past could touch them in that place...

It was beautiful.

...and natural.

That night, they were surrounded by the salty smell of the beach. The freshness of the breeze. The coolness of the night, and the scent of the grasses.

They bedded on Inuyasha's outer haori, wrapped in each other's arms much more intimately than usual. Their legs intertwined and tangled around one another, their feet brushing together. Kagome's head laid on Inuyasha's chest as he laid his chin on the crown of her scalp. His arms fully enveloped her, and her own wrapped around his waist.

Together, they looked at the stars, content to be near one another.

"Inuyasha?"

"Hn?"

She moved closer to him, if such was possible.

"We've known each other for three years now, haven't we?"

A fang popped from Inuyasha's mouth, a semblance of his amusement.

"We have."

Once more, he found her fingers tangled in his hair, twirling it around her fingers thoughtlessly.

"Hasn't it seemed like longer?"

Inuyasha shrugged.

"I can't really say."

Kagome's fingers tightened, closing into a loose fist in the locks of his mane as she tangled the other hand into his hakama pants, looking up at him in askance.

"Why?"

He smiled softly down at her, knowing for one so young it would be hard to explain.

"...I have seen hundreds of years pass by, Kagome. It's sometimes hard to feel the affects of time."

Kagome winced, unravelling her fingers from his hair and let it travel to his cheek softly, cupping it in such a mild way it surprised him.

"...that's so sad..."

He covered her hand with one of his, and squeezed it softly.

"Why?"

"Because, times like these... I never want them to end."

Inuyasha's throat constricted tightly, and he felt himself slightly tremble at her words.

"...me either..."

He confessed...

The tips of Kagome's lips upturned in the slightest, and she settled back down against him.

"Tell me more about your past?" she requested, her fingers finding their way back to his locks.

His own lips quirked in merriment.

"You're always asking. So nosy, aren't we?" he teased her quietly.

It rattled her easily, and she harrumphed.

"Fine. You're uninteresting then."

He frowned at her.

"Tch. Touchy. I was only joking."

He felt her slight frame shake somewhat, and he heard her soft chuckle.

"I know. I was too..."

"Keh. Well, what do you want to hear about?"

Kagome paused her minstrations in his hair suddenly, and she considered.

"You always seem to avoid one period of time... that time about fifty years ago? Can you tell me about it?"

Inuyasha stiffened underneath her and grumbled irritabily at her, "Why do you ask?"

She make a throaty whine, and frowned, "You asked me what I wanted to hear. I was just being honest! Besides, it's my birthday. You should indulge me."

"I've indulged you plenty."

"...please?"

"No."

"...puh-leease?"

"...Kagome..."

"...pretty please?"

"Agh, fine! But if I'm in a bad mood afterward, you're the only one to blame!"

"Okay!"

Inuyasha's ears flattened and he growled grumpily.

"...you sound too excited with my discomfort."

"I'm sorry! There, happy?"

"...that's not very convincing."

He felt one hand travel up the side of his head to rub one of his puppy ears and he began to rumble immediately under her touch.

He very quickly forgot his moodiness with her and sighed contentedly.

She stopped.

His eyebrows twitched.

He cleared his throat and muttered reluctantly, "Fine, you're forgiven..."

Her hand returned to its attentions on his ear, relaxing him enough to coax the story from his lips without much thought involved.

"...around then was when I came to Musashi for the first time. Before then, I mainly stuck to the lands in the north and the east. I even travelled to the outskirts of the mainland once, but that's another story... Anyway, there were far fewer villages then, and much more youkai. I was often fighting them, seeing as they thought a half-breed like me was an easy fight. They were always wrong, of course..."

Kagome giggled softly... he always had a habit of building himself up in his recounts of his travels.

"Anyway, there was one village in particular... a really poor, hole in the mud kind of place that seemed to get the brunt end of everything. I was curious, so of course I checked it out. I didn't have much better to do... And when I went there, I found a miko... One that reminds me a lot of you..."

Kagome blinked, somewhat caught off guard by his admission.

He had never mentioned anything like this before to her... and she could see why now. It was more personal than usual.

...just like how he rarely spoke of his mother.

"...Well, I found out she carried this special jewel... Something a lot of youkai wanted... and so, I stuck around to help her. They treated me well there, and she and I became friends... I... I cared a lot about her," he admitted, the story obviously becoming hard to tell. But he kept on, and Kagome was too involved to try and stop him.

"I was around for a couple of years... And one day she confided in me. She told me that she wanted to be an ordinary woman. She said if I became a human by the jewel, it would be purified and cease to exist... but I told her, I couldn't do it. That if youkai still came around, how would I protect her? I wouldn't have been able to..."

Inuyasha's voice became harsh, somewhat angry, and he pulled Kagome closer.

"It doesn't matter anyway. She became angry at me, and we weren't so close anymore. She disregarded her duties anyway, and married a village man. She had two children, and still tried to take care of the jewel, despite it all. But her powers waned for some reason, and she seemed a little bitter... not too long after the birth of her second child, a youkai took her life... before I was able to kill it. She asked her body be creamated... and the jewel be burned with her. That's the end of the story. I left, and never went back... until around the time you found me. I had only been in Musashi a little while by then."

Kagome released her hold on his ear, which by then had become slack anyway, and looked at him with intrigue.

"...that's such a sad story... why did you go back to Musashi?"

Inuyasha shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm not sure... after the miko died, I just wandered around aimlessly... I guess I just happened to go there by accident."

There was something Kagome didn't understand, though...

"Why did she want you to become human? Wasn't there another way to purify the jewel?"

Inuyasha snorted, a dark looking passing over his eyes quickly.

"She didn't like me as a hanyou Kagome. She wanted me to be a human."

Kagome scowled indignantly for Inuyasha's sake.

"I like you as a hanyou!"

"...really, Kagome?"

She nodded enthusiastically, as well as one could lying against another person.

"Well then, you would be the first," he whispered softly to her, lifting one hand to run his fingers through her hair.

"What was the miko's name, anyway, Inuyasha?"

She heard him exhale above her, his arm tightening its hold on her. She blinked.

"...her name... was Kikyo."