InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The World Through His Eyes ❯ This Time ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: Has anyone thought about why we have to put up disclaimers? I mean do we really think that some big corporate guy/gal in Japan is going to stumble upon our stories and decide to sue us for copy-right infringement? Or do we just writing this because it's cool looking? Or because we have nothing better to do? Maybe a long time ago somebody thought it would make there story look more formal if they had a disclaimer and over time it's became the thing to do? Bah…I don't really care anyway…If you think I own any of the barrowed chara.s in this story then you're just gullible enough to believe that I have a time warping well in my back yard that I'm willing to sell cheap

 

 

::RECAP::

Kagome sighed again, and then gathered up all her courage to make her request, although it shouldn't have been this hard considering how many times she'd been in that position while blind.

“Can…can I sleep in your lap? I mean, if you don't want me sitting on you I understand, but I just can't seem to get comfortable…' Inuyasha didn't wait for her to finish before gently pulling her into his lap. He made sure she was comfortably tucked in before leaning back against the wall of the hut.

“Inuyas—“

“Quiet. We only have a little time to sleep before the others get back. And I'm tired.” He wasn't really all that tired, but he figured that saying so would shut Kagome up. Inuyasha knew that if she ever stopped talking she would fall asleep, and he was right. Five minutes of silence later and her soft, even breathing could be heard. He shifted around so that he could see her face, lightly dappled by what little sunlight managed to fight its way into the small room.

“I'm glad it's you.” He whispered before placing a light kiss on her forehead. Inuyasha really didn't know the reason he was glad it was Kagome he was in this situation with, but he knew what he'd said was true. There was no one living that he would choose over the girl in his arms to be bound with in this way.

“Don't worry. I promise we'll figure this all out soon.”

::END RECAP::

Don't make the same mistakes you did all over

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

It was a beautiful sunlit day. The kind full of children's laughter and the sound of laundry flapping in the stiff breeze. The whole world seemed to be rejoicing in the simple pleasure of just bring alive. Well, everyone that is, but him.

Myoga wasn't a happy bloodsucker at the moment. In fact, I think you could say that he was most displeased as he hopped along the path that led to the village his lord had taken up semi-permanent residence in. The pack on his back was about twice his size, making his travel extremely difficult. He would have caught a ride on a passing animal, but all the dogs and cats in the area refused to accommodate him. And to make matters worse his feeling were still smarting from the news he'd gotten about his master.

“I can't believe he didn't invite me to the ceremony! I can understand not inviting his brother, even though, as head of the family it's Sesshomaru-sama's job to bless their union…but why didn't they invite me?” He sniffed in indignation. “Well, I'll show them! I'll come anyway and even bring the traditional gift!”

So the little flea youkai kept on traveling, albeit slowly, toward his delinquent master.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Kagome laughed out loud as she watched Shippou's antics in the water from her spot in the lush grass of the water bank. Around her Miroku, Sango, Kaede, Kirara, and Inuyasha were all taking part in some kind of relaxing activity. It wasn't often that they got a break from shard/Naraku hunting long enough to just have fun, but today was special. The whole group had gone on a picnic to celebrate the return of her sight.

“Okaa-chan! Watch me!” Shippou called from the rock he was perched on, ready to jump into the cool water when he had her undivided attention. Dutifully, Kagome turned watchful eyes toward him, clapping when he executed a perfect belly flop…although she was almost certain he'd been trying to do a dive like Inuyasha had earlier.

“Are you feeling alright?“ Inuyasha asked as he came to sit beside her. Kagome nodded that she was fine, never taking her eyes off the little kit performing complex hydro-acrobatics in the water.

Inuyasha sighed a bit in contentment. He had been watching Kagome watch her son from a distance all morning and found that he could no longer stay away from her. The way the sun gleamed off her hair, the way she smelled of flowers and that strange `shampoo' stuff she liked so much…the way her could hear all her thoughts in his head…Well it was all combining to drive him quite crazy. And to prove just how insane he really was, instead of going far FAR away from the problem (Kagome) like any normal person would have, Inuyasha found himself sitting as close as he could to her without being in her lap. And being this close to Kagome made him feel…content. It was a plus that she didn't seem to mind.

With one arm stretched out behind her to support his weight he leaned his head down close to whisper in her ear. “You know he'll probably drown trying to make you proud of him.”

“If he starts to drown, you'll just have to save him.” She answered back confidently.

“Oh, would I?” He wasn't quite sure if he was flirting with her or not, but at the moment Inuyasha didn't care. Kagome was having such loud, happy thoughts at the moment that he couldn't help but be happy right along with her.

“Yes, you would. Because inside you're just a really big softy.” She reached up and tweaked his ear gently, then let go to give Shippou another round of applause.

“Keh.” Inuyasha let just the barest hints of a smile show on his face. He knew she was right but damn if he'd agree with her openly.

“Inuyasha, I have to ask you something.” The change in her mood from playful to serious set him on edge. He leaned away from her a bit and waited for her to continue.

“I think the reason Shippou's always so scared about being left behind is because he's the smallest of our group. Well other than the fact that his parent's were murdered and every one he depends on is in some kind of danger daily---“

“Get to the point, wench!” Inuyasha prodded when she started to babble off topic.

“What I'm trying to say is that I think if Shippou had someone to take care of, instead of always being the weakest, he'd have more confidence.” She looked up at him with hopeful eyes, but for the life of him, Inuyasha still didn't get what she was trying to say. Kagome sighed and gave it another try. Maybe a more direct approach was needed to make him comprehend what she wanted.

“Inuyasha, didn't you ever want a puppy when you were smaller? Something to take care---“ She paused mid-sentence when she noticed the look Inuyasha was giving her. It was the look he always used when she'd done something stupid, like becoming possessed or getting in the way of angry demon hordes. It was Kagome's turn to look confused. What was his problem anyway? If he didn't like the idea of Shippou getting a pet he could just say so, instead of looking at her like she'd grown two heads.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Inuyasha could hear the annoyance in her voice and he finally answered her.

“Umm…Hello!” he pointed to his white dog ears, “I don't think I ever asked my parents for a puppy. That'd be like asking for a brother or a sister, and believe me when I tell you that Sesshomaru was enough!” Kagome blinked at him, then it hit her. Inu-youkai…puppies…no wonder Inuyasha had looked at her so strangely.

“Oh…sorry…then…ummm…did you ever have any pets at all?” She watched as his eyes got a far away look to them, and for a moment she thought he wasn't going to answer her, then—

“I had a koi when I was little. It was a gift from my father when he came back from one of his trips abroad. I kept it in a big glass tank in my room. I really liked that fish.” Inuyasha told her. His voice had an almost wishful quality to it.

“What happened to it?”

“Oh…my mother's cat made a meal out of it one day.” Inuyasha frowned a little at the memory, mumbling something about the stupidity of all felines before he redirected the conversation, “So you want to get Shippou a pet?” He hoped the change in subject would distract Kagome from asking him unpleasant questions about his past. He really didn't want to get into all of that today. Kagome let the opportunity to pry into Inuyasha's past pass her by, but not before she's taken a little time to file what he'd just revealed into her memory. After all, it wasn't often that he opened up enough to share something from his childhood, and she wanted to make sure she'd remember it later.

“Yes…I was thinking something small…so he could carry it around with him…and definitely not something that's fragile. It's got to be able to live through him playing with it and every battle we're in. Any way, I was asking if you thought it was a good idea.”

“Keh, I don't care as long as it doesn't bother me. And nothing with sharp teeth! Knowing the brat, he'd teach it to bite me! And nothing that makes annoying sounds at night…Oh and it can't eat a lot or reqire---“

“INUYASHA!” Kagome reached out and poked him in irritation, “Yes or no?”

“Hey! That hurt bit---“

“INUYASHA-SAMA! How COULD YOU?!?” The arguing couple was interrupted by a familiar voice. They both looked up in time to see a tiny flea youkai hurling toward them.

“I've watched over you all these many years…I was even the guardian of your most honored father's sacred tomb and this is how you repay me?” The distraught little demon's ranting didn't even pause as Inuyasha caught him between his thumb and his forefinger and squeezed.

“I can understand you being rude, but Kagome-sama! I thought you liked me!” He continued to wail.

“Umm…What's he talking about?” Sango asked, having been drawn over by all the commotion.

“I have no clue.” Kagome responded as the old bloodsucker continued to rant about whatever it was he was upset about.

“Have you and Inuyasha been keeping secrets from us, hmm?” Miroku asked, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively. Kagome blushed while Sango knocked the perverted monk in the head.

Meanwhile, with the help of a little bit of squishing and a few well placed shakes, Inuyasha got Myoga to calm down enough to answer questions.

“Oi, Jiji…what exactly did Kagome and I do to you that was so rude?” He applied a little pressure with his fingers as he asked...just to encourage Myoga to respond of course.

“Don't act like you don't know! I know you all think I'm a coward and that I run away in battle, but I always have your best interest at heart! And anyway, that's no reason to not invite me to your kekkonshiki no shinkouteki! (Literally Spiritual Marriage ceremony) As a loyal servant to both your father and to yourself I deserved to be there!” His angry words were greeted with shocked silence then all hell broke lose in the form of a fury of questions, and Inuyasha almost squishing his retainer into the afterlife.

“Huh?”

“Kekkonshiki no shinkouteki?”

“There really is something you haven't told us isn't there?”

“I like not the sound of this.”

“Okaa-chan, what's kek...kekkon...kekkon...sha..she...shi...what ever those long words were, mean?” Suddenly all eyes turned to the silent Kagome as if she alone had the answer to the confusing mystery. All Kagome could do was look at Inuyasha, who in turn looked at Myoga.

“Inuyasha, is there something that you forgot to tell me?” Her voice was quiet, but not in a good way. This was the type of quiet that promised much pain for Inuyasha in the form of that dreaded subdue word. In desperation Inuyasha thrust the flea youkai he was still holding toward Kagome, hoping it would appease her wrath.

“Here ask him! I have no idea what the bastard's talking about!” Kagome took the slightly flat flea into her palm and nudged him with a finger.

“Myoga-jichan…exactly what are you talking about?” She watched in even more confusion as happy tears filled up the old youkai's eyes.

“You really don't know do you? That means I wasn't not invited on purpose!” The joy in his voice was too much for Inuyasha, who snatched the insect youkai back from Kagome and gave him another good squeeze.

“Answer the question already before I flatten you so bad it'll take a hundred years for you to puff back up!” He yelled.

“It seems that in order to answer your question I'm going to have to give you a long over due lesson in the rituals of inu-youkai mating.” His self-important tone rang loud in the clearing as everyone held their breath, waiting to see the reactions of Inuyasha and Kagome. While the later blushed a deep scarlet at the words `mating rituals', Inuyasha just chunked Myoga away from himself as if he'd been burnt…or bitten.

“Kami-sama help us. This is going to be a long day.” Kaede prayed.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Kagome sat under the tree outside of Kaede's hut and tried to still the nervous fidgeting of her fingers by grasping her hands tightly together in her lap. Her stomach felt as if it was playing host to a convention of butterflies. She couldn't shake the feeling that whatever Myoga had to say would be very…unsettling….

`Why do I even bother to feel nervous about this? I already know that there's no way on earth that I can be unbound from Inuyasha, even if that means that Kikyou will fade away. And from what Sango said, this spell has kinda turned into a mating spell…so we already knew we were bound in sorta the same way as that. As I see it there's nothing to be worried about. We'll just sit Myoga straight about our relationship and that'll take care of his confusion.' Kagome felt better after she'd giving herself that little pep talk. That is until a certain hanyou rained on her parade.

“Keh, just goes to show how little you know bitch. A snowball has a better chance in hell, than you do getting Myoga-jiji to understand this fucked up mess we've gotten ourselves into.” He sat down close to her and before Kagome knew what was happening she found herself sitting in his lap. Kagome fought the urge to just snuggle up to him as much as she could, but oh if felt good to be in his arms again. This was where she felt safe and warm…and loved. She didn't want to leave, yet she was afraid to stay.  

`Why is he doing this now? I have my sight back, so it's not like before when he held me so I wouldn't freak out thinking I was alone. And it's not like I can't sleep and I'm begging him to hold me. I still can't believe I did that but in my defiance, my sleeping pattern was off. I wonder if he's holding me now is just out of habit? I wonder if I should just get up. If he doesn't realize what he's done then it might be better if I don't get to comfortable here.' Kagome sighed, and decided to make up some kind of excuse for having to leave, that way it, hopefully, wouldn't be so awkward. But before she could even start to formulate a believable one, she felt Inuyasha's arms tighten around here waist.

“Don't even think about it.” He growled into her ear, his warm, slightly damp, breath played over the exposed skin of her neck and made her shiver slightly. Kagome swallowed hard and fought valiantly not to melt into his embrace.

“Inuyasha, you know, since I've got my sight back, you don't have to hold me in your lap like this anymore if you don't want to. I mean, I know yesterday I asked to so I could sleep, but that was a one time thing I assure you.” He allowed her to pull back a little so that she could look into his face, but he refused to give her enough room to slide out of his lap.

“Keh.” Inuyasha wasn't sure how to tell Kagome that he liked, no needed to be close to her like this. Hell he didn't even know if he'd want to tell her even if he knew how. So he just kehed, hoping that would be the end of it. And it probably would have ended there with anyone else besides Kagome.

“I mean it Inuyasha. You can put me down; I promise I won't get mad.” She started to squirm around a bit, but Inuyasha put a stop to that by pressing a clawed hand to her waist.

“Just sit still, would ya and stop with all the questions!”

“But I think---“

“Then don't think. Just relax. I know you're still pretty tired from using so much of your miko magic and today has been a long day. Just let me take care of you.” His started to comb his hand gently through her hair in long even strokes. For a moment she got tenser, if that was even possible, then she slowly relaxed.

“Okay.” Kagome snuggled in close and rested her head on his shoulder. Inuyasha was right; she did feel tired from the day. Maybe she'd just sleep a little bit?

“Wake me up when Myoga-jichan comes out to talk to us, k?”

“Whatever, just get some rest wench.” Inuyasha adjusted her body so that her legs were draped over one of his legs and her back was cradled against his arm. Now he could watch her face while she slept. And he could make sure she stayed asleep during his conversation with the bloodsucker.

“I know you're there Jiji. I suggest you come out and tell me what the hell all that stuff was about this afternoon before I make good on that threat to squash you.”

“I'm sorry for my actions this afternoon Inuyasha-sama; you must forgive this old flea for jumping to conclusions.” Myoga hoped out of the shadows he'd been hiding in and came to sit on Inuyasha's shoulder. He eyed the side of his master's cheek and debated whether he should chance a small sip of his blood or not. A glance up at Inuyasha made his debate a moot point. The look in his eyes told Myoga that he was seconds away from being made into a greasy spot between two rocks. He twitched a little, and then decided that it wasn't in his best interest to anger the hanyou farther.

“A few days ago I heard an interesting piece of gossip that said that the strange shard hunting miko and her half youkai companion had preformed the Kekkonshiki no Shinkouteki. I was upset because I thought I hadn't been invited to witness the ceremony---“

“Oi, what in the fucking hell is a Kekkonshiki no Shinkouteki? And what does it have to do with Kagome and me?” Inuyasha interrupted. Kagome stirred a little at the harsh tone of his voice but settled down when he began to softly rub her back. Myoga watched this display with interest before continuing as if Inuyasha hadn't interrupted at all.

“So of course I hurried here as fast as I could to see why I'd been so rudely ignore. When I found out that neither of you had any idea that you'd taken part in the ceremony I decided that before I explained anything to you I needed to talk to Kaede-sama about what had exactly concurred. She is a brilliant miko, I would never have thought about using a binding spell in such a fashion…”

“I don't care how damn smart she is when it comes to all that shit! Just explain this Kekkon…whatever-it-is to me!” This time Inuyasha was sure to keep his voice low, so as not to disturb the girl sleeping in his arms. Myoga sighed patiently and continued.

“After talking to the miko I realized that the whole situation was purely coincidental. Which is a very strange thing in itself. No, don't interrupt me again,” Myoga instructed when Inuyasha opened his mouth. “I'm getting to what you want to know, but before I explain the rituals of mating to you, I think we should wake Kagome-sama up. She needs to hear this too.”

“No.” Inuyasha's tone left no room for argument, or at least he thought it left no room. Myoga obviously had other ideas, because he began to try to convince Inuyasha that Kagome should be awake for this.

“She has just as much at stake here as you do. Maybe more so because she's human. She needs to know what's happening to herself.” Myoga tried to reason.

“She knows what's happening. Our souls are forever bound. She has to stay near me forever. End of story. She doesn't need to know anything else.” He pulled Kagome closer to his chest instinctively. Inuyasha growled low in his chest without realizing it. He was afraid of what Myoga had to say.

`Really I'm more afraid of how what he says might change my relationship with Kagome than the message itself. I already have a good idea about what he'd going to say…I'm not that stupid. I don't want anything to change between us. I don't want her to be mad or unhappy. I don't want her to feel pressured.'

“Inuyasha, under normal circumstances the female in the relationship has a choice…As I see it Kagome didn't get that choice, so it would be like adding salt to the injury to keep this from her.” Myoga could see that his words had hit a sensitive spot with Inuyasha. The little flea hoped that it would be enough to bring his master around.

“I'll tell her later.” Came his sullen reply. Myoga sighed sadly. It looked like his master left him no choice. With a lightening fast jump he was on Kagome's cheek filling his belly with her bittersweet blood. Inuyasha yelled and reached for him and at the same time Kagome's hand reached up to slap him away. Inuyasha drew back so that he wouldn't hurt her, just as Myoga had anticipated. With another leap he landed on a small rock just out of the hanyou's reach. With Kagome in his lap stirring awake, there was no way for Inuyasha to come after him unless he wanted to dump Kagome in the dirt. Inuyasha growled out his frustration and settled on throwing anything he could get his hands on at the flea, but Myoga was able to dodge most of the pebbles and clods of dirt.

Kagome blinked slowly and yawned. Inuyasha stopped yelling and throwing things as she stretched in his lap. His attention was all on her now and Myoga breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn't have been able to keep up that dodging pace much longer.

“Inuyasha is Myoga-jichan here yet?” Kagome asked as she reached up to rub the sleep out of her eyes. She felt better after her nap and it showed in the smile she sent his way.

“Yeah he just got here.” He answered.

“Oh, is that who you were yelling at?” She sat up and looked around until she found the little flea youkai perched on a rock just out of Inuyasha's reach. She smiled and waved at him.

“Are you finally ready to talk to us now?” Kagome shifted to get out of Inuyasha's lap, and for a moment it looked like he wasn't going to let her go, but finally he released her. He settled instead on just holding her hand as she sat close to his side.

“Yes, I'm ready to begin if it's alright with Inuyasha-sama?” Inuyasha kehed his consent, so Myoga continued, “First Kagome, what do you know about youkai mating?”

“I…umm…not much.” She was caught off guard by the question and could only blush and stutter out her answer. “Other than they ma..mate for life.” Inuyasha squeezed her hand reassuringly.

“That's a small part of it, yes. I see I'm going to have to start from the beginning.” Myoga sat down and made himself comfortable on his rock. It looked like they were all going to be here for a while.

“Every youkai tribe has its own rituals for mating. Some are complex and take many months, and some are very simple. The inu-youkai fall somewhere in between these two groups in that inu youkai only have two basic rituals that have to be preformed in order for the couple to be completely joined…” Inuyasha watched Kagome while Myoga went on with his long winded speech. She was listening with the same look in her eyes as she got when she was studying for those test that were so important to her. This looked used to irritate him more than anything else in the world, because it meant that Kagome wasn't paying any attention to him, but now that it was pointed toward something that dealt directly with him he felt a little unsettled. As if Kagome knew his eyes were on her, she turned her head and looked up at him. With a frown she noted that he was indeed not listening to what Myoga had to say just as she'd thought. With a quick jab of her elbow she got his attention.

“Pay attention to what he's saying!” She hissed into his ear. Inuyasha immediately tuned back into the flea youkai, knowing that angering Kagome at the moment wasn't a wise thing to do.

“…normally the Kekkonshiki no Shinteki (literally the physical marriage ceremony.) is only preformed first if the youkai lord is in need of an heir quickly. In most cases the Kekkonshiki no Shinkouteki comes first because most couples prefer to bind their souls together before they share their bodies with each other. Some say that it makes the act of intimacy more…pleasurable…” Kagome blushed brighter than Inuyasha had ever seen her blush, and he might have smirked at the sight if he wasn't so busy hiding his own red face. His ears even felt hot.

“Now from what I can gather from Kaede-sama when she bound the two of you together so that Kagome could borrow your eyes, I've figured out that she inadvertaly preformed the Kekkonshiki no Shinkouteki.  Although it was a bit different from the normal ceremony it had the same effect. By youkai standards you both are now mates.” Myoga paused, waiting for their questions. It would be easier to answer them as they went instead of at the end of the lesson.

“Okay, so our souls are bound. We already knew that.” Inuyasha bluntly pointed out, “I don't see how any of this other stuff matters.”

“So, by inu-youkai standards, Inuyasha and I are married?” Kagome broke in to clarify.

“You might have already know you were bound, but don't assume that everything begins and ends there Inuyasha-sama. And to your question Kagome-sama, yes, to put it in human terms, Inuyasha is your husband.”

“But I'm too young to get married!” Kagome nearly shouted. Being bound to Inuyasha forever was one thing, but being married to him was a whole other matter. One she wasn't sure she was ready for.

“But how can that be? You've had your first blood that marks maturity, haven't you? There is no reason for you to be considered too young for marriage.” Kagome was too embarrassed to answer Myoga's question. She berated herself for forgetting that this time had different views about such things as she buried her face into Inuyasha's sleeve. Inuyasha reached over with his free hand and stroked her hair in comfort while he explained, with barely suppressed growls, to Myoga that Kagome's time saw things a little differently.

Myoga looked at him doubtfully, but continued on with his explanation. “Now, what I haven't mentioned is that certain things happen when the souls of the potential mates have been bound that show how strongly their link is. The male should be able to sense the feelings of his mate to some degree, and be able to calm her down if she's distressed over something. The female can also calm her mate down using their link, but normally this power isn't very strong because the male needs to be able to fight without his female trying to take his edge off.

Longevity is another `side effect'. Kagome, your life span will now match Inuyasha's because he is the strongest person in the relationship.” Kagome sucked in a breath as the meaning of Myoga's words hit her. She was going to live as long as Inuyasha now? That could very well mean that right now, in her time there was a much older version of herself. It made her head hurt just thinking about it.

“…normal things that happen, but if the spell warps in some way, or isn't preformed just right, as in your case, the effect also change in strange ways. Now, this is what I want you to both pay special attention to because some of these things are potentially deadly. Kaede has already told me that you can't be separated without feeling pain. This is one of the side effect of a soul mating done wrong. This was caused by Inuyasha's youkai soul instinctively knowing that your binding wasn't as sold as it would have been had the spell been preformed right. It doesn't help matters that Kagome is missing a piece of her soul or that she tried to destroy the link between you. In order to keep your mate close to you, your soul made it painful for her to leave.”

Inuyasha cringed. Why was it always his soul that caused all the trouble? Why couldn't Kagome's be responsible for some of this shit every once in awhile?

“In extreme circumstances, any wound the male gets will be reflected onto the female's body. I know this has happened to you both already, but unfortunately I can't tell you why it has happened. Of all the symptoms that could possible come about, this one is the one that cannot be explained.”  In the silence that followed Myoga's last statement, Kagome absently noticed that the sun was sitting in the west. It was a pretty sunset, full of deep oranges and purples and pinks. It was such a simple thing to behold, unlike her life, which was getting more and more complicated with each passing moment. She wanted to be mad at Inuyasha for not telling her all this himself, but she could sense that he had been just as in the dark as she'd been.

`And to think, all I really wanted was to borrow his eyes for a few weeks, and instead I get my soul tied to his. On top of that I find out that I'm married at 17and could potentially live forever. Suddenly I just want to go home to my time.' She thought on that for a moment. Why couldn't she leave right now? She needed to restock her bag anyway, and this would be the perfect time to get Shippou his pet. Inuyasha would have to come with her of course, but as long as he didn't do anything to get on her nerves that shouldn't matter.

“I'm going home.” Kagome stood up without looking at either of the youkai and walked toward the hut to get her things together. Inuyasha let her go, knowing that right now wasn't the time to try and stop her.

“Oh, Inuyasha-sama, I have a few more things to tell you before you go running after Kagome-sama. You should be expecting your brother to pay a visit soon.”

“WHAT?!?!”

“Well, as the head of the family and the clan, it is Sesshomaru-sama's duty to bless your union with Kagome. Since you were rude and didn't invite him to the ceremony, or come to his court for the ceremony, he will feel the need to come to you.”

“WHAT?!?”

“And also I've brought the traditional gift of kekkonshiki no Shinteki for you to give Kagome-sama when you decide to complete your bond.” Myoga pulled his large pack out from behind the rock he was sitting in and opened it. He lifted a vial of purple powder from it and held it out toward Inuyasha, “This is the crusted uterus of a highly fertile rabbit youkai. It has been passed down for many generations because just one pinch of the powder will increase your mate's fertility by one hundred fold. I don't know what it will do to Kagome, but I'm sure it will help her bare healthy children. “

“WHAT?!?!?!”

“I said---“

“I know what you said…I just don't know what you want me to do with that stuff.” Inuyasha scooted away from Myoga and the vial as it they were poison.

“Give it to Kagome, of course. That's what the males of your line have been doing for centuries!” Myoga hopped closer to his master who was now crawfishing away as fast as he could.

“I. Am. NOT. GIVING. THAT. SHIT. TO. KAGOME. I don't care what kinda traditions that breaks!” He swatted at the flea when he kept coming closer.

“You don't have to give it to her, just keep it with you. If I'm caught with it on my person I could be killed because this is scared for your family.” By this time Inuyasha had ran out of places to crawl so he had no choice but to take the vial from his retainer. He quickly shoved it inside his haori with a shudder, although secretly the thought of Kagome having his children was appealing.

“Keh, if you tell her about this Jiji I'll make sure you stay flat for eternity.”

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Kagome watched the steam rise up from her bath and lazily drift up toward the ceiling. She fantasized that as it rose it turned into different animals. Then she worked on molding the soap bubbles into animals. Anything to keep from thinking about Inuyasha and their situation. It wasn't until she noticed that the soap-bubble-sculpture she was working on looked strikingly like Inuyasha (or as much as a lump of foamy bubbles could look like anything) that she gave up the fight.

“How am I supposed to look him in the face now? Before, we knew that our link was like something mates would have, but that was all it was. Now that we know the possibility is a reality, I don't know how to act around him. This changes everything. This means that there can never be anyone else for us. I'm locked into a relationship and I don't even know if he loves me. Well, that's not true. I do know that he loves me, I'm just not sure it's the kind of love one has for a wife. Oh, what am I going to do?” She buried her face in her bubble covered hands, then jerked back when soap got in her eyes.

“That was so stupid!” Kagome struggled, half blinded by the evil suds, to get out of the tub without falling. She turned on the tap and rinsed her eyes out. She looked in the mirror and glared at how bloodshot they now looked. Mumbling about how it was all Inuyasha's fault she stepped back into the bath---only to find that the water was now cold. With a sigh and a tired shrug Kagome gave up own getting a long relaxing bath tonight. Without much thought she pulled her p.j's on and headed to her room for some much needed sleep. Let Souta entertain Inuyasha for a while, she just didn't have the strength to deal with him right now.

Kagome didn't bother to turn on the lights in her room as she walked in. This turned out to be a potentially painful decision on her part when she tripped over something on the floor. With a muffled yelp she prepared herself for the pain of landing on her floor, but it never happened. Two clawed hands reached out and caught her before she could plummet to the floor. Inuyasha gathered her to his chest protectively, trying to see if she'd hurt herself somehow.

“I guess some thing's never change, huh?” He asked softly. Kagome gazed up at him in the darkness; the only things visible to her human eyes were his slightly glowing ones.

“Hmm?” She was too entranced to do more than make a questioning sound in the back of her throat. His eyes truly were beautiful in the dark as each fleck of gold came to have a shimmering life of its own.

“No matter what happens you'll always be the clumsiest bitch I know.” The spell was broken. Kagome wrenched herself away from him and plopped down on her bed. She pointed toward the door and demanded that he leave her room.

“Why? I always stay in here when you sleep?” Inuyasha was a bit confused. He'd only been trying reassure her, in a round-about way, that some something's hadn't changed in their relationship.

“I don't care what you normally do, tonight your sleeping on the couch.” She laid down so that her back was to him and pulled her covers up over her head. Inuyasha looked at her back for a moment before sitting down on the floor. When she didn't demand that he leave again he began to relax. He knew that she didn't mean it.

“I meant in Inuyasha. If you don't leave right now I'll say the “s” word. And don't think for one moment that it won't hurt. I'll find a way for it to hurt. Just go away.” Okay, so maybe she really did mean it. He wondered if he should just do what she said, but the desire to be near her was too strong.

“Keh, the couch is probably too far away. I'm not going anywhere.” To prove his point he made a big deal of getting comfortable on her rug, making sure she could hear what he was doing clearly. He heard her sigh and turn over, but she didn't attempt to make him move again. He glanced over at her worriedly. He couldn't hear her thoughts at the moment because they were too muddled, but the emotions she was giving off were full of despondency.

Tinitivly he reached out to give her comfort by running his fingers through her long raven tresses. To his dismay, his actions only made the feelings worse. He sat up on his knees so that he could see her better. Her eyes were screwed tightly shut and forehead her was drawn into a frown.

“Kagome, what's wrong?” He asked quietly, trying to keep the worry from showing up in his tone. She didn't answer for a moment or two, and Inuyasha began to suspect that she was ignoring him, but then she sighed and opened her eyes.

“Inuyasha, maybe we should try to put some space between us.”

“That's not going to happen, or have you forgotten how much that hurts?”

“No, I don't mean that kind of space. I've been thinking about it since you let me sit in your lap this afternoon. And then I remembered what Sango said a few days ago about how since the spell was cast we'd become more affectionate. And I…I just don't want you to be near me because of some stupid spell! I want…I want it to be different…I…I” She was struggling to make him understand that she didn't just want him to love her because he had to, but it was hard to force those words out passed her suddenly dry throat. “I just think…that if we tried not to…touch…each other…for a while…that it might be…for the best.” Kagome refused to meet his gaze when she'd finished. That would only make this harder, and Kami-sama knows that it was already hard enough to tell him not to touch her anymore. But when the silence began to stretch out over long moments, Kagome couldn't help but glance toward him.

Inuyasha had been waiting for her to do that, and with a quick dart of his hand he caught her chin and held it there until she met his eyes. When he was sure she wasn't going to look away he moved to sit on the edge of her bed, and leaned over her with deliberate slowness. He placed a hand on either side of her head and moved in closer to her. Inuyasha's hair fell around them, creating a curtain of silver that hid them from the world.

`I thought I took care of this today…why doesn't she understand?'

“You are mine.” Just like his movements had been, Inuyasha spoke with deliberately slow, so that she was sure to understand everything he was saying. “I don't give one flying fuck how it happened but now that it has I'm not going to act like it's not true. If you're worried that the only reason I want to be near you is because of the bond then don't think about it.” He was so close to her that even in the darkness Kagome could make out all his features. She could see just how serious he was, but she still wasn't convinced.

“How do you know that you're not being controlled by this spell?” She had to know. There was no way she would ever be comfortable again if he didn't prove it to her now. Inuyasha growled deep in his chest at her doubting words. He wanted to just kiss her until she was senseless to prove his point, but something told him that was the wrong thing to do. For a second he stopped to wonder just why he was fighting her over this. A few weeks ago he would go out of his way to avoid touching her, but now he was thinking of kissing her senseless? He wondered if she was right about the spell fooling around with his feelings, but he rejected that idea immediately. No he'd always wanted to touch her like this; he'd just never had the courage to. But that didn't matter now, because she was his. How did he tell her that though? There was no way in hell he was going to just come right out and say all that.

“Please just trust me Kagome. Don't push me away, I need you.” Okay so that wasn't much better than the other stuff he could have said, but Inuyasha decided not to dwell on that right now. His words seemed to do the trick though, because Kagome suddenly wrapped her arms around his chest with a quiet sob.

“I'm sorry, I'm just so afraid. I don't want to lose you. I'm afraid you'll start hating me because you can't get away from me. You never asked to be tied down like this; you didn't even want to be bound to me in the beginning when we thought all it would do was give me your eyes.” Inuyasha pressed his forehead to hers and waited for the flow of half hysterical words to ebb before talking. It hurt him a little that she thought him capable of hating her. After all they'd been through didn't she know how much she meant to him?

“I could never hate you Kagome. You should know that by now.” He scolded gently, “and I promised that I wouldn't leave you, remember?  We're going to have to take this one day at a time for a while but I know we'll figure it all out, okay?” He didn't wait for her to answer before he moved back to drop a quick kiss to her forehead. He sat up and gently pulled her arms away from himself. Inuyasha pulled her covers back up to her chin and tucked it around her body snuggly.

“Go to sleep now, wench `cause tomorrow we're going back down that well and I don't want to hear you whine about how tired you are.” The old Inuyasha was back, and Kagome couldn't help the serge of relief she felt. This new gentle side of Inuyasha made her slightly uncomfortable and off balance. But she could deal with the old gruff Inuyasha easily.

“Okay, and I suppose I'll let you stay in here tonight even though I should make you sleep outside for saying I was clumsy.”

“It's not my fault that the truth hurts so much bitch.” He grumbled as he leaned his back against her bed. He felt her reach out and give his ears and gentle tweaking and he smiled. He was glad that they were back on safe ground again. Talking about feelings and shit like that always made him feel twitchy.

“Night Inuyasha.”

“Night Kagome.”

 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Momma!” Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs as she dug through some old boxes in the attic. “Do you know where those old school books you used to teach us with when we were little are?” She coughed a bit from the dust that flew up as she opened yet another unmarked box.

“You're looking in the wrong place dear. The books you're looking for are going to be in that corner over there.” Kagome jumped a little at the sound of her mother's voice coming from right behind her. She turned to see where she was pointing before crawling over in that direction.

“You scared me. I didn't expect for you to show up that fast.”

“Well, I saw Inuyasha sitting at the bottom of the latter looking miserable so I decided to check on you.”

“Yeah, all the dust kinda bothers his nose. I had pity on him and sent him down, although seeing him sneeze ten times in a row was fun.” Kagome opened up the first box and found what she was looking for. Memories of her mother teaching her how to read and write flashed before her eyes as she dug through the stacks.

“Why do you want to take these to the past with you? You know you have to be careful with what you teach the people there Kagome.” Her mother tried to hide the concern in her voice but Kagome heard it. She sat back on her heels and whipped her forehead with the back of her hand.

`I guess now is as good a time as any to tell her that I've adopted Shippou.'

“Mamma do you remember me telling you about the little boy I've been taking care of in the past?” At her mother's nod Kagome continued. “Well, I've kinda adopted him and now I want to teach him how to read and write and other things like that. That's why I need these books.” She waited for her mother to say something but all she felt was her warm arms surrounding her. Kagome was surprised for a moment; she'd been expecting her mother to tell her she was too young to raise a child. Maybe if she took this news well she'd take the news that Kagome was married too even better.

“Oh Kagome, you're growing up so fast. Before I know it you'll be married and leaving us forever.”

`Oh Mom, is you only knew how close to the truth you are.'

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Oh! Look at these Inuyasha! Aren't they just the cutest things?” Kagome cooed over the puppies in the window of the pet store while Inuyasha stood behind her clearly nonplused to be there. She had insisted that before they went back that Shippou's pet had to be bought. Inuyasha wondered how animals could live in glass boxes like those the puppies were in but he didn't say anything to Kagome. The quicker she got in there and picked out a pet for the brat the quicker they could get back to the quiet of the shrine.

“Come on, we have to go in.” Kagome reached out and tugged on his hand to pull him forward. She knew that Inuyasha wasn't enjoying this much, but she wasn't about to let him rain on her parade.

When they walked in the woman behind the counter looked Inuyasha up and down from the top of his floppy hat to the ends of the pointy claws on his bare feet. When her eyes fell on his sword she started. Kagome rushed to assure her that Inuyasha was harmless.

“He's just dressed up for a play our shrine is putting on. The sword is fake.” The woman visibly relaxed and Inuyasha mumbled something under his breath about the stupidity of human females. Kagome just jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow to show him that she didn't appreciate his words.

“I need a pet for my son. He's about six years old and small for his age so it needs to be something little. He also is a bit…hyperactive…so it needs to be something that won't die if he plays a little roughly with it.” She could almost see the gears in the woman's head working to figure out how a person as young as she was could have a child six years of age. She debated on wither to tell the nosy woman that Shippou was adopted but Inuyasha beat her to it.

“Shippou is adopted. His parents died a few years ago.” The woman nodded her understanding.

“Oh, well for your son I'd suggest a rabbit, a miniature squirrel or one of our breeds of rodent. Of course you could always go for the traditional thing and get him a puppy.” Kagome looked over at Inuyasha and almost laughed at the expression on his face.

 “No, a puppy isn't really an option. Inuyasha here is allergic to dog hair.” If looks could kill, Kagome would be six foot under. She could feel the heat of his gaze burning into the back of her head as the woman pointed them toward the rodent section of the pet store. As soon as they were out of sight he started to growl at her.

“First you tell her that Tetsusaiga is fake, then you tell her that I'm allergic to dogs? What are you thinking!?!” Kagome did laugh then. She tried to control it, she really did, but the look on his face was priceless. Inuyasha humphed and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't see what was so funny. Kagome managed to contain her mirth. She reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair out of his face and looked into his eyes.

“I'm sorry Inuyasha, but I had to tell her the sword was fake before she kicked us out. It's illegal in my time to carry weapons openly. As for the other thing, she assumed we lived at the shrine because I told her you were acting in a drama. She was just trying to give one of those puppies a good home with lots of room to run. I didn't want to seem heartless and just say no outright. I'm sorry if I made you mad.” He could see that she was sincere so Inuyasha kehed and uncrossed his arms.

“Let's get this over with, Kagome. All these cages are making me nervous.” Understanding that she was forgiven, Kagome moved to look around. The rabbits looked so cute and cuddly that she immediately wanted one of them, until Inuyasha reminded her that foxes like to eat rabbits. The thought of her son making a meal out of his pet turned her stomach so she moved over to the white rat cages.

“Kirara would swallow that thing whole in one gulp.” He pointed out. Kagome, tired of him hovering over her shoulder pushed him toward the reptile area.

“Go over there and look at the snakes and lizards! Guys like that sort of stuff, just don't sit anything free, okay?”

“Whatever.”

She sighed when he wondered off in the direction of the snakes. With him gone she could finally get down to business.

 

~15 minutes later~

“Inuyasha, I am not buying Shippou-chan a snake! Those things are nasty and scary and I refuse to give such a thing to my child! Now what about a ferret or a squirrel?”

“Squirrels are for wimps! What Shippou needs is a snake, and for your information they are not nasty.”

“Squirrels are not wimpy! They're cute and easy to take care of.”

“They have big teeth and they smell!”

“Their source of food is easily found where we live. We'd never have to pack extra stuff when we travel.”

“We can feed the squirrel to the snake and he'd be full for a month!”

“We. ARE. NOT. GETTING. A. SNAKE!” Kagome's yell echoed over the suddenly quiet pet store. She blushed when the manager cleared her throat.

“I think your girlfriend is right sir, a snake isn't really a good gift for a six year old because they really can't pet it or play with it. I think her little boy would enjoy a squirrel more.”

“Keh.” Inuyasha knew when he was out voted, but he wasn't about to let Kagome have the last word.

“When he cries because you got him a wimpy squirrel I'm going to tell him that he could have gotten a snake.”

“You do that Inuyasha.” Kagome patted him on the arm and followed the woman toward the squirrels. “There's a little one over here with light brown fur and a black strip on it's back. That's the one I want…”

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Tell me again why you needed all of this shit?” Inuyasha grumbled as he hauled everything up and out of the well.

“Umm, we were out of everything over on this side of the well, so I brought more food and first aid stuff. I also brought my homework with me since I'm sure the doctor will release me to go back to school when I go for my check up in a few days, and then there are the books I'm going to use to teach Shippou with. They couldn't all fit into my yellow bag so I had to get him one of his own. And the rest of this stuff is for the squirrel.” She held up the little clear box she'd bought to carry the fluffy tailed rodent in until she could give it to Shippou.

“Keh.” He was still miffed that they'd brought back and squirrel and not a snake.

“Okaa-chan! You're back! Did you bring me anything? I missed you a lot! Myoga-jichan said you and Inuyasha left because you needed some time alone, and when I asked him why he said that he'd tell me when I'm older, but I already understand stuff like that because I hang around Miroku. I don't think Myoga-jichan knows what he's talking about though because Inuyasha would never act like Miroku.” He finally paused to take breath and Kagome jumped in.

“Okay, one thing at a time. Yes, I brought you back something good. Yes, Inuyasha and I went away for a bit but no it did not have anything to do with Miroku. And yes you are right; Myoga-jichan doesn't know what he's talking about half the time. Now do you want to see your surprise?” She sat down on the ground beside him and pulled the little cage out from behind her back. Shippou looked at it funny for a moment, wondering why Kagome was giving him a see-through box. Then he noticed movement in the box. He peered closely at it as a fluffy ball of fur appeared from beneath the layer of saw dust it'd been napping under.

“You can get it out. I got it for you as a pet.” Kagome prodded when all he did was stare.

“Told you we should have gotten a snake.” Inuyasha mumbled. Kagome chose to ignore him.

Shippou gently sat the cage down and pried off the bright blue lid of the box. Then he reached in and pulled the squirrel out by its tail. Kagome was almost afraid that the animal would bite him, but the tiny thing just looked at Shippou with black beady eyes as it hung upside-down next to his face. Shippou blinked. The squirrel blinked back. Suddenly Shippou grasp the small mammal to his chest and beamed a radiant smile up at Kagome.

“Thank you Okaa-chan! This is the best gift ever! Can I go show him to Kaede-baachan? Oh what am I going to name it? I bet Kirara will help me pick one out! AH! I've got to go show everyone! Thank you so much!” He sprang forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek before rushing off to show everyone the newest member of their group.

“I told you he'd like the squirrel.” Kagome told Inuyasha smugly.

“Keh. You just wait in a few hours he'll find out how wimpy that thing is and then you'll be sorry you didn't get the snake.”

 

 

 

 

TBC

 

 

AN

 

Wow, now we're back to long chapters! This chapter dealt with a lot of things, so I hope I pulled if off farley well. Oh and some important notes.

Kagome calls her mother Momma, but Shippou calls Kagome Okaa-chan? What's up with that!: I can explain! Really I can! You see if you watch the sub version of the show you notice that Kagome calls her mother Momma in English. Shippou doesn't know English. In fact he doesn't even know such a language exist at this point in time. So he uses Japanese and Kagome being influenced by Western Culture uses random English words. Kinda like we American otaku's use random Japanese words, ne?

Shippou's new pet: A lot of people review and told me just how messy squirrel are. I understand all of your concerns but it had to be a squirrel. Why you may ask? Simply because one of my favorite manga's just ended (Kodocha) and the author had a squirrel that died while she was writing the last few pages. So Shippou's squirrel is my little tribute to her.

The New story idea: I decided to take your suggestions and go with choice B. I have the first three chapters written and I hope to post it up when I post this chapter. So I want you to all run and find it so you can review! Oh and just you know it's titled—For Life; For Love.

Hitomi's Handy-dandy Guide of Doom to Inu-youkai Mating:

 

When two consenting youkai decide that they want to give the mating thing a go they have to go through two different, distinct ceremonies. There must be at least two weeks and two days between ceremonies or the consequences could be fatal. But these rituals can be done in any order, and as long as one had been done the youkai are considered mates, just not full mates…Kinda like an engagement you can't back out of.

 

 

The Physical Ceremony (Kekkonshiki no Shinteki): In which the mates pledge to honor each other and their separate houses by having many children. Gifts between mates are exchanged, to show that they will always take care of each other. Normally the gifts giving by the male are to increase the female's fertility. As a general rule, the only reason this ceremony would come first is if the male was a lord and needed an heir quickly.

 

The Spiritual Ceremony (Kekkonshiki no Shinkouteki): In which the couple has their souls bound together. This ceremony requires someone of strong spiritual power to link the potential mates through a complex spell using their blood. The ceremony starts with both male and female making small, but deep cuts to one forefinger. Then their blood is collected separately in new bowls. It is very important for these bowls to have never been used before, because the essence of what ever it was previously used for will taint the blood. When enough blood has been collected, the miko/priest/whatever-strong-spiritual-person-you-find-laying-around will cast the spell over the blood so that it becomes a soul linking force. Then a small amount of this blood is dabbed on the back of the necks or the participants. Male blood to female neck and so forth. The rest of the blood is then mixed together and burned. When the blood is burned the spell is activated and the marks on the neck will stain so that nothing, not even removing the skin, can alter it.

 

Side effects and complications: When the souls are bound in this manor, there are certain side effects, the severity of which depends greatly on how much the souls intertwined during the ritual. With a varying degree of accuracy the male should be able to sense the thoughts of the female. So that he knows instinctively when she is in danger from outside forces and from inside forces (depression with demons is a nasty thing to behold) He will also be able to sooth any distressing thoughts she might have. The female will also have the power to calm her mate down, but to a lesser degree than the male. 

 

Another side effect is longevity. The life span of the strongest will become the life span of both. In the cases of youkai-human relations, when the youkai of the couple passes on, the human will follow shortly because the human soul would by then not be able to survive without its youkai counterpart. If both partners are youkai the surviving mate will not die, and can live on for many more years, although they may feel as though they have an empty spot in their heart.

 

If the spell for some reason goes wrong, or one of the mates tries to break it, it can result in the souls of the two melding too much. Some signs of this are the male being able to actually hear the female's thoughts. The mates will not be able to be separated by more than a few feet before experiencing some kind of discomfort, and in extreme circumstances any pain the male feels will be reflected onto the female. It's not known for sure why this happens, but these symptoms should be taken seriously, although none of these are potentially deadly unless they go unheeded. There is no cure if the spell has warped in this manor. But on the bright side, the mates that have these problems often have a closer relationship (of course that could be caused by the fact that they can't get away from each other without feeling pain)

 

Really it's just the same crap as what's in the chapter, but I figured I'd add it in just in case someone got confused.

 

Enter Kouga stage right! Watch out Kouga! When you hurt Inu you hurt Kago!

 

The nameless squirrel still needs a name! Shippou you must look long and hard for the perfect title!

 

Is big brother watching you?!? Inuyasha you'd better get your act together `cause Fluffy's coming to town!