InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Unfettered ❯ Where We Belong ( Chapter 3 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: inufan625 
InuYasha meets Kagome's husband and spends time with his son.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 12.21.2005 | Updated On: 11.06.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.7K | Visits: 3.4K | Status: Work In Progress
InuYasha meets Kagome's husband and spends time with his son.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 12.21.2005 | Updated On: 11.06.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.7K | Visits: 3.4K | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha and I won't make any money from this work of fiction.
A/N: Final edit...
InuYasha nodded, and Kagome stepped past the wall beside the door and out into the living room. He was there, sitting on the couch, a woman’s head bobbing furiously between his legs. He looked up and saw her.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he questioned. “I thought I told you that I didn’t want to see your or that little bastard of yours.”
“Who’s that?” the woman asked.
“Shut up, bitch. I’m not paying you to talk,” he snapped, pushing her head back down.
“I just came to get mine and Taro’s things,” Kagome replied. “I’m leaving you and filing for divorce.”
“What things are you talking about?” he asked, pushing the woman off of him. She landed on her butt.
“Our clothes and Taro’s toys,” Kagome explained.
“Listen, you little whore, those things you are talking about belong to me, just like you,” he told her, taking another step closer to her. “You bought them with my money. Besides, you aren’t leaving anyway. Who would want you? You’re a filthy little whore, a dried up slut who can’t fuck for shit, and didn’t have enough sense not to get knocked up and ended up saddled with that little freak you call a son. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how fucking weird that kid is. The little bastard’s father was probably some sort of criminal. Now, I think you need another lesson in respect.”
InuYasha could barely contain his growl as the smell of Kagome’s fear began to grow and fill the air around him. The man entered his vision and looked at Kagome as if he was stalking his prey. He drew his hand back and Kagome flinched. InuYasha jumped in front of her and caught his wrist.
“You won’t fucking touch her, you bastard,” InuYasha growled.
“Who the fuck are you, and what the hell are you doing in my house?” he asked. The two men stared at each other. “Wait... You look just like that little shit kid of hers.”
InuYasha growled and grabbed his throat, lifting him off of the ground. Kagome gasped; mostly she hoped that InuYasha wouldn’t lose control, but a small part of her, to her horror, hoped that he would. The look in InuYasha’s eyes was murderous, and through her concealment she could see faint purple lines appearing on his face. The low growl in his throat was one of serious warning. She put her hand on his shoulder. Kagome couldn’t be afraid of InuYasha, but the same did not go for her soon to be ex-husband. She watched in surprise as a dark stain began to spread across the front of his pants. InuYasha wrinkled his nose in disgust. He threw the terrified man to the floor.
“You ain’t worth it,” InuYasha said at last. “I should have known as much; that a man who would hurt women and children would be nothing more than a coward when faced with an opponent who can fight back.” In that moment, Kagome could not have loved him more, or been more proud of the man he was. “Get your stuff, wench, and let’s the hell out of here. It fucking stinks.”
Kagome took his hand. “Let’s just go. There is nothing here that I can’t live without.”
Kagome pulled him with her out of the apartment, and once they were in the elevator, she wrapped her arms around him. She raised herself onto her toes and pressed her lips to his. This time she didn’t have to wait for him to kiss her back.
“I’m sorry papa. I won’t do it again,” he said softly. “Just don’t leave us here, and don’t hurt mama. Punish me.”
Kagome reached for Taro but InuYasha held her back. “Look at me,” he ordered. The little boy obeyed. “What do you think you did wrong?”
Taro chewed his bottom lip in a gesture that so reminded him of Kagome that he had to fight not to laugh. “I was running in the house, I jumped on you, and I hurt you.”
“It would take a lot more than a runt like you to hurt me,” InuYasha told him. “You shouldn’t run in the house, but it ain’t everyday a boy meets his papa for the first time so I think your mama wouldn’t mind this once if we let it slide.” Beside him Kagome smiled. “Also, you can’t jump on your mother, but I don’t mind. Now I want you to listen close because this is important.” Taro nodded earnestly. “I will never raise a hand to your mother or to you. That don’t mean you won’t be punished if you deserve it, but you never have to be afraid that I will hit either one of you.”
“You really mean it?” Taro asked.
“I give you my word,” InuYasha replied. “Do you know what that means?”
“Mama says that it’s like a promise, and when you make a promise it’s important that you keep it,” Taro said. “She told me that you always do everything you can to keep your promises, and never to make a promise you can’t keep.”
“That’s right,” InuYasha told him.
“Why don’t you take papa out side and show him what you figured out how to do last time we were here?” Kagome suggested.
“But mama, you said never to show anyone,” the little boy protested.
“What I meant, baby, is never show anyone outside of our family,” she explained. “You don’t have to keep any of our secrets from papa.”
“So I can tell him the night when I don’t feel so strong and everything gets quieter and I can’t smell as good, and everything?” Taro asked.
Kagome nodded.
Taro jumped up. “Come on papa,” he said, grabbing InuYasha’s hand.
The boy led him outside and to the back of the shrine. They left the grounds and headed off into the trees.
“So what did you want to show me?” InuYasha asked.
Taro looked around for a second. “Stay back papa.” Then the young hanyou jumped and made a sweeping arch with his hands aimed at a small tree. “Sankontessou!”
The sound of wood cracking followed and the tree fell over. Once InuYasha was done being surprised, he felt a surge of pride. While the tree was not a large one, he could not have felled it with his claws when he was the pup's age. “How’d you learn that?”
“I was playing, acting out one of the stories mama told me. I was pretending to be you and it just happened,” Taro replied. “After that I could just do it whenever I wanted. I showed mama and she said she was sure that you would be proud.”
“Your mama knows what she’s talking about,” InuYasha said. “That was really good for a pup your size.”
“Will you show me how you do it?” Taro asked.
InuYasha looked around for a large tree and raked his claws through the air. “Sankontessou!”
The wood splintered and the tree fell.
“Wow,” Taro said. “That was so cool. Can you do anything else?”
“I’ll show you, if you promise not to tell your mother, and never to do what I am going to show you unless you have no other choice,” InuYasha told him.
“I promise,” Taro agreed.
InuYasha made a small cut on his arm and drug his claws through the blood. He picked a close grouping of trees and threw out his hand as he called out, “Hijinkessou.” His blades of blood crashed into the tree sending splinters of wood flying. He saw the awe on the little boy’s face. “Remember, don’t tell your mother I showed you that. Now, let’s see what else you got.”
“What do you mean?” Taro asked.
“I mean I need to know you can take care of your mother while I get our house ready, to take you back with me,” InuYasha said.
He jumped at the little boy and rolled them over. He tickled Taro as the boy sat on his chest. Taro finally broke free. When InuYasha stood up, Taro jumped at him and he let the boy take him to the ground. They were having such a good time wrestling each other that neither one noticed Kagome watching them from a short distance away. She was smiling and had tears in her eyes.
It was the scent of tears that finally managed to catch their attention, and both stopped. InuYasha raised his head and Taro turned. Twin looks of concern turned into smiles when they realized she wasn’t crying because she was sad, but because she was happy. Kagome frowned as InuYasha whispered something to which Taro nodded. They both stalked toward her and she didn’t like the mischievous glint in their eyes.
She took a step back and held out her arms. “Oh no...” she said. “I don’t think so. Whatever it is... You two stop looking at me like that.”
She squealed as InuYasha jumped at her, grabbing her and pulling her to the ground on top of him. He then rolled, pinning her. “All right pup, get her.”
Taro tickled her as InuYasha held her down. Kagome laughed until she was gasping and tears rolled down her cheeks. “Please no more...”
“Do you surrender?” InuYasha asked.
“Yes, please...” Kagome replied.
InuYasha moved off of her and let her sit up. “Haha, mama, me and papa got you good,” Taro laughed.
Kagome stuck her tongue out at her little boy, as he sat in his father’s lap laughing at her. “It really isn’t fair for you two to team up on me. After all, I’m just a pathetic human wench, not a big strong hanyou.”
“Keh, wench, you were never just a pathetic human,” InuYasha told her.
“Mama, papa and me are hanyou?” Taro asked. “Like in Jii-chan’s stories?”
“Yes, baby,” Kagome replied. “It’s time to go have dinner right now, but after, papa and I will sit down and tell you the whole story of how we met, and what you really are.”
As they ate dinner together, Asami couldn’t help but notice how much more alive her daughter seemed. She also noticed that Souta and even Jii-chan seemed to be happier. It felt right to have InuYasha eating with them. Her daughter’s soon to be ex-husband had not joined them for dinner even once since the wedding.
She wondered if Kagome blamed her for not having noticed sooner that something was terribly wrong. She certainly blamed herself. As she listened to Taro laugh and talk non-stop to the older hanyou beside him, she wondered how it was that she didn’t notice.
She had assumed her daughter’s ever-present melancholy was because she had lost the man she loved, and had never even suspected that it could be something more. She understood now that her Kagome was just good at hiding things.
She had let herself think that Taro’s unusually subdued way was just part of his personality. Only now did she see how wrong she was. The little boy was every bit as lively and vivacious as his mother had been at that age. He was finally free to be a child.
Asami smiled. She had to admit InuYasha looked as happy as she had ever seen him. His eyes were, for the first time, unguarded as he spoke to his son. He belonged with his family, as a part of their family, but hadn’t she already known that? Wasn’t he the reason she had counseled her daughter not to marry?
A part of her had always known that the strange young hanyou that had always come to take her daughter back to the past would return for her one day. While Kagome had refused to let herself believe that he loved her, anyone with eyes could have seen that it was so. None of that mattered now, though. What mattered now was that he had come at last, and was once again taking care of her daughter.
“All right baby, it’s time for bed,” Kagome announced.
“Aww, but mama, I wanna stay up and play with papa,” Taro whined.
Kagome knew it was odd to be smiling when her child was whining, but it was something he had never done before. She knew that it meant that he could heal from seeing his stepfather hurt her, and learn to be a normal child.
“It’s already an hour past your bedtime,” Kagome said firmly. “Papa will play with you tomorrow.”
Taro looked at InuYasha.
“Don’t look at me,” he said. “Your mama said it’s time for bed.”
A pout settled over the boy’s face, and Kagome laughed. “You keep making that face it’ll stick. But if you hurry and get ready for bed, I think we have time for me to tell you the real story about how I met your papa.”
Taro jumped up. “Really?” Kagome nodded. “Okay mama.” He ran up the stairs.
“You want to help me put our son to bed?” Kagome asked as she stood.
“Keh, I better come make sure the pup hears the right story,” he replied.
Kagome sat on the edge of Taro’s bed and smoothed his hair and InuYasha stood behind her. “You’re not too sleepy to hear your story are you?”
Taro shook his head furiously. “No mama, please tell me.”
“On my fifteenth birthday my cat wandered into the old well house, and I went in to look for him. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was born with a very special jewel inside of me and its power woke a centipede youkai, who pulled me into the well,” Kagome said. “I fell through the well and came out about five hundred years in the past. That’s when I saw your papa. He was pinned to a tree by the sacred arrow of a miko, in an enchanted sleep.”
“A miko shot papa with an arrow?” Taro asked.
Kagome nodded. “A very bad man had offered his soul to many youkai, and became an even more evil hanyou. He tricked your papa and this miko into hating each other, but that’s another story. I didn’t know where I was, but something drew me to your papa. I think it was his ears.”
“Crazy wench,” InuYasha snorted.
Kagome giggled. “I had to touch them. So I climbed up and was rubbing his ears when some villagers came.”
“Oi, you molested my ears when I was under the spell?” InuYasha questioned.
“I couldn’t help it. They looked so soft,” Kagome replied. “The villagers thought I was some sort of youkai, so they took me to their miko. She realized that I wasn’t a youkai and invited me to stay with her. That night, the centipede youkai came after me. It wanted the jewel that I didn’t even know I had. I ran to lead it away from the village. It was really scary and I was yelling for someone to help me. When I made it back to the tree your papa was awake.”
“Why did he wake up?” Taro asked.
“I don’t know pup,” InuYasha answered. “There was nothing, and then I could feel your mama. Her soul just kind of reached out and grabbed mine, breaking part of the spell.”
“When your papa first saw me, he thought I was the miko who had pinned him to the tree,” Kagome continued. “I look like her, and I found out later that I am her reincarnation. The centipede youkai came for me. She ripped the jewel from my body right here.” Kagome pulled up her shirt and showed Taro the scar. “Then she tried to crush me against the tree. Your papa said that if I freed him, he would kill it. The villagers told me not to, but your papa asked me if I wanted to live. I chose life and pulled the arrow. He killed the youkai and then demanded the jewel. The village miko, Kaede obaa-chan, told me to run and I did. Then your papa tried to kill me.”
“Keh, I missed on purpose wench,” InuYasha snorted.
“You tried to kill mama?” Taro gasped.
“I said I missed her on purpose. I just wanted the jewel,” InuYasha told him.
“Kaede used her miko powers to send a special rosary around papa’s neck, and told me to pick a word that would quiet his soul. I saw his ears and the first thing I thought of was ‘Osuwari’.” Kagome gasped as InuYasha face planted on the floor.
“Wow,” Taro said.
Kagome bent down. “I’m so sorry InuYasha. I didn’t mean it.”
The spell finally released him. “Damn it, wench. I’d forgotten how much that hurts.”
“Oh, InuYasha, I’m so sorry,” Kagome told him.
“Keh, don’t worry about it. Just don’t do it again,” InuYasha said.
“After the rosary was on, your papa stayed with me, waiting for a chance to steal the jewel. It took a while, but we became friends and your papa protected me from youkai while we traveled across Japan. Then one day I realized that your papa was more to me than a friend, and that I loved him,” Kagome finished. “Now, it’s time to go to sleep. Be a good boy and I’ll tell you another story tomorrow.” She kissed his forehead. “I love you. Goodnight, my sweet koinu.”
“Goodnight, mama, papa,” Taro replied.
InuYasha followed Kagome out of Taro’s room and down the hall to hers. Kagome noticed that something seemed to be on his mind. “Something wrong?”
“My mother,” he said quietly. “You reminded me of her. She said the same thing every night when she put me to bed.”
Kagome wasn’t sure what to say, so instead she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest. She sighed contentedly when his arms came around her and he rested his head on top of hers. A few long moments passed.
“You’ll stay here with me tonight, won’t you?”
“If you want,” he replied.
“InuYasha, thank you,” she said softly.
“For what?”
“For forgiving me and accepting me,” she told him.
“What are you babbling about, wench?” InuYasha questioned.
Kagome moved away and pulled her nightclothes out of her suitcase. “Well, it’s just... you weren’t with anyone after I left and I... I betrayed you by being with someone else. I shouldn’t have gotten married. Mama would have helped me with Taro and now...”
“Stop,” InuYasha interrupted. “It’s as much my fault as yours. You left, but I didn’t ask you to stay. How can I blame you for not wanting to be alone, for wanting your son to have a father? I was willing to become human just to keep from being alone, and it’s because of me that you thought I was going to be with Kikyou once you were gone. Let’s just leave the past where it belongs.”
“Okay,” she agreed. “But I want to you to know that everything else aside, my heart has only always belonged only to you.”
A/N: Final edit...
~ * ~
Kagome opened the door and stepped inside. InuYasha was following closely behind her. She shut the door and said quietly, “Wait here. No matter what he says, just stay here and I’ll be as fast as I possibly can.”InuYasha nodded, and Kagome stepped past the wall beside the door and out into the living room. He was there, sitting on the couch, a woman’s head bobbing furiously between his legs. He looked up and saw her.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he questioned. “I thought I told you that I didn’t want to see your or that little bastard of yours.”
“Who’s that?” the woman asked.
“Shut up, bitch. I’m not paying you to talk,” he snapped, pushing her head back down.
“I just came to get mine and Taro’s things,” Kagome replied. “I’m leaving you and filing for divorce.”
“What things are you talking about?” he asked, pushing the woman off of him. She landed on her butt.
“Our clothes and Taro’s toys,” Kagome explained.
“Listen, you little whore, those things you are talking about belong to me, just like you,” he told her, taking another step closer to her. “You bought them with my money. Besides, you aren’t leaving anyway. Who would want you? You’re a filthy little whore, a dried up slut who can’t fuck for shit, and didn’t have enough sense not to get knocked up and ended up saddled with that little freak you call a son. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how fucking weird that kid is. The little bastard’s father was probably some sort of criminal. Now, I think you need another lesson in respect.”
InuYasha could barely contain his growl as the smell of Kagome’s fear began to grow and fill the air around him. The man entered his vision and looked at Kagome as if he was stalking his prey. He drew his hand back and Kagome flinched. InuYasha jumped in front of her and caught his wrist.
“You won’t fucking touch her, you bastard,” InuYasha growled.
“Who the fuck are you, and what the hell are you doing in my house?” he asked. The two men stared at each other. “Wait... You look just like that little shit kid of hers.”
InuYasha growled and grabbed his throat, lifting him off of the ground. Kagome gasped; mostly she hoped that InuYasha wouldn’t lose control, but a small part of her, to her horror, hoped that he would. The look in InuYasha’s eyes was murderous, and through her concealment she could see faint purple lines appearing on his face. The low growl in his throat was one of serious warning. She put her hand on his shoulder. Kagome couldn’t be afraid of InuYasha, but the same did not go for her soon to be ex-husband. She watched in surprise as a dark stain began to spread across the front of his pants. InuYasha wrinkled his nose in disgust. He threw the terrified man to the floor.
“You ain’t worth it,” InuYasha said at last. “I should have known as much; that a man who would hurt women and children would be nothing more than a coward when faced with an opponent who can fight back.” In that moment, Kagome could not have loved him more, or been more proud of the man he was. “Get your stuff, wench, and let’s the hell out of here. It fucking stinks.”
Kagome took his hand. “Let’s just go. There is nothing here that I can’t live without.”
Kagome pulled him with her out of the apartment, and once they were in the elevator, she wrapped her arms around him. She raised herself onto her toes and pressed her lips to his. This time she didn’t have to wait for him to kiss her back.
~ * ~
When they returned to the shrine, Taro was outside playing. Kagome sat beside InuYasha on the couch and they told her mother what had happened. When Taro realized they had returned, he came running inside and jumped in InuYasha’s lap. InuYasha groaned. Taro’s eyes opened wide with fear and he jumped back on to the floor. He cowered before them with his eyes down cast. He was whimpering softly.“I’m sorry papa. I won’t do it again,” he said softly. “Just don’t leave us here, and don’t hurt mama. Punish me.”
Kagome reached for Taro but InuYasha held her back. “Look at me,” he ordered. The little boy obeyed. “What do you think you did wrong?”
Taro chewed his bottom lip in a gesture that so reminded him of Kagome that he had to fight not to laugh. “I was running in the house, I jumped on you, and I hurt you.”
“It would take a lot more than a runt like you to hurt me,” InuYasha told him. “You shouldn’t run in the house, but it ain’t everyday a boy meets his papa for the first time so I think your mama wouldn’t mind this once if we let it slide.” Beside him Kagome smiled. “Also, you can’t jump on your mother, but I don’t mind. Now I want you to listen close because this is important.” Taro nodded earnestly. “I will never raise a hand to your mother or to you. That don’t mean you won’t be punished if you deserve it, but you never have to be afraid that I will hit either one of you.”
“You really mean it?” Taro asked.
“I give you my word,” InuYasha replied. “Do you know what that means?”
“Mama says that it’s like a promise, and when you make a promise it’s important that you keep it,” Taro said. “She told me that you always do everything you can to keep your promises, and never to make a promise you can’t keep.”
“That’s right,” InuYasha told him.
“Why don’t you take papa out side and show him what you figured out how to do last time we were here?” Kagome suggested.
“But mama, you said never to show anyone,” the little boy protested.
“What I meant, baby, is never show anyone outside of our family,” she explained. “You don’t have to keep any of our secrets from papa.”
“So I can tell him the night when I don’t feel so strong and everything gets quieter and I can’t smell as good, and everything?” Taro asked.
Kagome nodded.
Taro jumped up. “Come on papa,” he said, grabbing InuYasha’s hand.
The boy led him outside and to the back of the shrine. They left the grounds and headed off into the trees.
“So what did you want to show me?” InuYasha asked.
Taro looked around for a second. “Stay back papa.” Then the young hanyou jumped and made a sweeping arch with his hands aimed at a small tree. “Sankontessou!”
The sound of wood cracking followed and the tree fell over. Once InuYasha was done being surprised, he felt a surge of pride. While the tree was not a large one, he could not have felled it with his claws when he was the pup's age. “How’d you learn that?”
“I was playing, acting out one of the stories mama told me. I was pretending to be you and it just happened,” Taro replied. “After that I could just do it whenever I wanted. I showed mama and she said she was sure that you would be proud.”
“Your mama knows what she’s talking about,” InuYasha said. “That was really good for a pup your size.”
“Will you show me how you do it?” Taro asked.
InuYasha looked around for a large tree and raked his claws through the air. “Sankontessou!”
The wood splintered and the tree fell.
“Wow,” Taro said. “That was so cool. Can you do anything else?”
“I’ll show you, if you promise not to tell your mother, and never to do what I am going to show you unless you have no other choice,” InuYasha told him.
“I promise,” Taro agreed.
InuYasha made a small cut on his arm and drug his claws through the blood. He picked a close grouping of trees and threw out his hand as he called out, “Hijinkessou.” His blades of blood crashed into the tree sending splinters of wood flying. He saw the awe on the little boy’s face. “Remember, don’t tell your mother I showed you that. Now, let’s see what else you got.”
“What do you mean?” Taro asked.
“I mean I need to know you can take care of your mother while I get our house ready, to take you back with me,” InuYasha said.
He jumped at the little boy and rolled them over. He tickled Taro as the boy sat on his chest. Taro finally broke free. When InuYasha stood up, Taro jumped at him and he let the boy take him to the ground. They were having such a good time wrestling each other that neither one noticed Kagome watching them from a short distance away. She was smiling and had tears in her eyes.
It was the scent of tears that finally managed to catch their attention, and both stopped. InuYasha raised his head and Taro turned. Twin looks of concern turned into smiles when they realized she wasn’t crying because she was sad, but because she was happy. Kagome frowned as InuYasha whispered something to which Taro nodded. They both stalked toward her and she didn’t like the mischievous glint in their eyes.
She took a step back and held out her arms. “Oh no...” she said. “I don’t think so. Whatever it is... You two stop looking at me like that.”
She squealed as InuYasha jumped at her, grabbing her and pulling her to the ground on top of him. He then rolled, pinning her. “All right pup, get her.”
Taro tickled her as InuYasha held her down. Kagome laughed until she was gasping and tears rolled down her cheeks. “Please no more...”
“Do you surrender?” InuYasha asked.
“Yes, please...” Kagome replied.
InuYasha moved off of her and let her sit up. “Haha, mama, me and papa got you good,” Taro laughed.
Kagome stuck her tongue out at her little boy, as he sat in his father’s lap laughing at her. “It really isn’t fair for you two to team up on me. After all, I’m just a pathetic human wench, not a big strong hanyou.”
“Keh, wench, you were never just a pathetic human,” InuYasha told her.
“Mama, papa and me are hanyou?” Taro asked. “Like in Jii-chan’s stories?”
“Yes, baby,” Kagome replied. “It’s time to go have dinner right now, but after, papa and I will sit down and tell you the whole story of how we met, and what you really are.”
As they ate dinner together, Asami couldn’t help but notice how much more alive her daughter seemed. She also noticed that Souta and even Jii-chan seemed to be happier. It felt right to have InuYasha eating with them. Her daughter’s soon to be ex-husband had not joined them for dinner even once since the wedding.
She wondered if Kagome blamed her for not having noticed sooner that something was terribly wrong. She certainly blamed herself. As she listened to Taro laugh and talk non-stop to the older hanyou beside him, she wondered how it was that she didn’t notice.
She had assumed her daughter’s ever-present melancholy was because she had lost the man she loved, and had never even suspected that it could be something more. She understood now that her Kagome was just good at hiding things.
She had let herself think that Taro’s unusually subdued way was just part of his personality. Only now did she see how wrong she was. The little boy was every bit as lively and vivacious as his mother had been at that age. He was finally free to be a child.
Asami smiled. She had to admit InuYasha looked as happy as she had ever seen him. His eyes were, for the first time, unguarded as he spoke to his son. He belonged with his family, as a part of their family, but hadn’t she already known that? Wasn’t he the reason she had counseled her daughter not to marry?
A part of her had always known that the strange young hanyou that had always come to take her daughter back to the past would return for her one day. While Kagome had refused to let herself believe that he loved her, anyone with eyes could have seen that it was so. None of that mattered now, though. What mattered now was that he had come at last, and was once again taking care of her daughter.
~ * ~
Kagome sat beside InuYasha, leaning her head on his shoulder, while Taro sat in his lap and talked excitedly about the characters in the anime they were watching. She couldn’t help but marvel about how patient InuYasha was with their son. She had always known he would be a good father.“All right baby, it’s time for bed,” Kagome announced.
“Aww, but mama, I wanna stay up and play with papa,” Taro whined.
Kagome knew it was odd to be smiling when her child was whining, but it was something he had never done before. She knew that it meant that he could heal from seeing his stepfather hurt her, and learn to be a normal child.
“It’s already an hour past your bedtime,” Kagome said firmly. “Papa will play with you tomorrow.”
Taro looked at InuYasha.
“Don’t look at me,” he said. “Your mama said it’s time for bed.”
A pout settled over the boy’s face, and Kagome laughed. “You keep making that face it’ll stick. But if you hurry and get ready for bed, I think we have time for me to tell you the real story about how I met your papa.”
Taro jumped up. “Really?” Kagome nodded. “Okay mama.” He ran up the stairs.
“You want to help me put our son to bed?” Kagome asked as she stood.
“Keh, I better come make sure the pup hears the right story,” he replied.
Kagome sat on the edge of Taro’s bed and smoothed his hair and InuYasha stood behind her. “You’re not too sleepy to hear your story are you?”
Taro shook his head furiously. “No mama, please tell me.”
“On my fifteenth birthday my cat wandered into the old well house, and I went in to look for him. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was born with a very special jewel inside of me and its power woke a centipede youkai, who pulled me into the well,” Kagome said. “I fell through the well and came out about five hundred years in the past. That’s when I saw your papa. He was pinned to a tree by the sacred arrow of a miko, in an enchanted sleep.”
“A miko shot papa with an arrow?” Taro asked.
Kagome nodded. “A very bad man had offered his soul to many youkai, and became an even more evil hanyou. He tricked your papa and this miko into hating each other, but that’s another story. I didn’t know where I was, but something drew me to your papa. I think it was his ears.”
“Crazy wench,” InuYasha snorted.
Kagome giggled. “I had to touch them. So I climbed up and was rubbing his ears when some villagers came.”
“Oi, you molested my ears when I was under the spell?” InuYasha questioned.
“I couldn’t help it. They looked so soft,” Kagome replied. “The villagers thought I was some sort of youkai, so they took me to their miko. She realized that I wasn’t a youkai and invited me to stay with her. That night, the centipede youkai came after me. It wanted the jewel that I didn’t even know I had. I ran to lead it away from the village. It was really scary and I was yelling for someone to help me. When I made it back to the tree your papa was awake.”
“Why did he wake up?” Taro asked.
“I don’t know pup,” InuYasha answered. “There was nothing, and then I could feel your mama. Her soul just kind of reached out and grabbed mine, breaking part of the spell.”
“When your papa first saw me, he thought I was the miko who had pinned him to the tree,” Kagome continued. “I look like her, and I found out later that I am her reincarnation. The centipede youkai came for me. She ripped the jewel from my body right here.” Kagome pulled up her shirt and showed Taro the scar. “Then she tried to crush me against the tree. Your papa said that if I freed him, he would kill it. The villagers told me not to, but your papa asked me if I wanted to live. I chose life and pulled the arrow. He killed the youkai and then demanded the jewel. The village miko, Kaede obaa-chan, told me to run and I did. Then your papa tried to kill me.”
“Keh, I missed on purpose wench,” InuYasha snorted.
“You tried to kill mama?” Taro gasped.
“I said I missed her on purpose. I just wanted the jewel,” InuYasha told him.
“Kaede used her miko powers to send a special rosary around papa’s neck, and told me to pick a word that would quiet his soul. I saw his ears and the first thing I thought of was ‘Osuwari’.” Kagome gasped as InuYasha face planted on the floor.
“Wow,” Taro said.
Kagome bent down. “I’m so sorry InuYasha. I didn’t mean it.”
The spell finally released him. “Damn it, wench. I’d forgotten how much that hurts.”
“Oh, InuYasha, I’m so sorry,” Kagome told him.
“Keh, don’t worry about it. Just don’t do it again,” InuYasha said.
“After the rosary was on, your papa stayed with me, waiting for a chance to steal the jewel. It took a while, but we became friends and your papa protected me from youkai while we traveled across Japan. Then one day I realized that your papa was more to me than a friend, and that I loved him,” Kagome finished. “Now, it’s time to go to sleep. Be a good boy and I’ll tell you another story tomorrow.” She kissed his forehead. “I love you. Goodnight, my sweet koinu.”
“Goodnight, mama, papa,” Taro replied.
InuYasha followed Kagome out of Taro’s room and down the hall to hers. Kagome noticed that something seemed to be on his mind. “Something wrong?”
“My mother,” he said quietly. “You reminded me of her. She said the same thing every night when she put me to bed.”
Kagome wasn’t sure what to say, so instead she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest. She sighed contentedly when his arms came around her and he rested his head on top of hers. A few long moments passed.
“You’ll stay here with me tonight, won’t you?”
“If you want,” he replied.
“InuYasha, thank you,” she said softly.
“For what?”
“For forgiving me and accepting me,” she told him.
“What are you babbling about, wench?” InuYasha questioned.
Kagome moved away and pulled her nightclothes out of her suitcase. “Well, it’s just... you weren’t with anyone after I left and I... I betrayed you by being with someone else. I shouldn’t have gotten married. Mama would have helped me with Taro and now...”
“Stop,” InuYasha interrupted. “It’s as much my fault as yours. You left, but I didn’t ask you to stay. How can I blame you for not wanting to be alone, for wanting your son to have a father? I was willing to become human just to keep from being alone, and it’s because of me that you thought I was going to be with Kikyou once you were gone. Let’s just leave the past where it belongs.”
“Okay,” she agreed. “But I want to you to know that everything else aside, my heart has only always belonged only to you.”