Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Par Tout Autre Nom ❯ Sugar-Coated Fabrication ( Chapter 32 )

Disclaimers: Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho belong respectively to Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi.

A/N: -heh heh- Ah, decisions… But that came later. Really I'm just inching away from the fact that I'm a girl and have people declaring they want to have my babies. -shudder- Scariness. LOL! And I wasn't going to update so soon, but like I said… this arc has been plotted and mostly written for a while. So the updates might come a little faster, but don't hold me to that promise. If they do, awesome. If not, don't wig out, they'll still come, it generally just means I had a brainstorm and am nitpicking myself to death. Now… there are a few questions that were asked that I can't answer yet, so I'll return to the blanket statement of saying be patient. They'll be answered eventually.

-huge grin- My reviews were so fabulous to read this time around! All my junkies and darling readers seemed to be enjoying the potential for this chapter, -giggles wickedly- and the guessing! The guessing was just uber. That was so much fun. I really do adore you guys, you're sweet and wonderful, and I love reading what you're thinking and enjoying in the story. -bows and blows kisses-

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By Any Other Name

~Sugar-Coated Fabrication~

"Yare yare… what's so damned important that I had to haul my ass here straight from the plane, hn, bratling? You made it sound serious when you called," Kagome's eyes went wide behind the concealing wall of Kurama's back at the sound of that bored growl, a flush of cold washing through her veins as her mind blanked out for a split second under the rush of emotions and memories crashing into her head enough to nearly drown out the actual words being said. "If this is another of your little tricks, you can expect me to crack that stubborn skull harder than normal this time and teach you not to summon your elders so imperiously. I'm behind schedule and not in the mood."

Kagome could feel her entire body begin to shake, curling in on herself and trying to take slow breaths with every heavy pulse of her soul protesting against her restrictions, Oh… oh gods, Kagome, calm down. Don't do it, don't-

"Oi! Don't go making threats you can't back up!" Shippou folded his arms over his chest, nose turning up arrogantly at the accusation. "What part of `it's a surprise' didn't get through your thick head?"

Knuckles cracked threateningly, "Looks like you just wanted that lesson after all. Come on then… I could use a good fight."

The thin thread holding her back finally wound to tight and snapped audibly within her mind as her eyes flashed and she twisted around towards that much loved voice. Completely ignoring the tension humming between the two sides, Kagome shoved her treasured shakujou into Souta's hands to be free enough to duck lithely around Kurama's startled form and very nearly leap at the man who's eyes had started to widen in shock the moment she came into view.

"Kagome?!" his arms were instinctively opening, taking a step forward to catch her slight weight and hoist her up over his head with a bark of absolute delight, the emotion brightening his eyes and making his face positively boyish.

"Kouga-kun!" Kagome squealed, winding her arms around his neck when the momentum of the swing crashed her into his chest and he buried his face against the side of her throat, his own hold almost enough to make her spine groan in protest.

"Ah! Nee-san, you're back!" Ginta slipped from the tree line when he recognized the girl being swallowed up in their leader's arms. His eyes widened as he quickly made a motion with his hand that had a dozen wolves gliding from their hiding places, their "prey" forgotten as they darted forward to surround the embracing wolf lord and miko, leaping up and barking eagerly in their efforts to have her put down.

"Goddammit, I knew that fucking dog wouldn't call me!" Kouga finally lifted his head, hoisting her up at arm's length again effortlessly and grinning widely as his eyes searched her with an intensity that would have been unsettling in any other youkai. "Where the hell have you been? We were all waiting for you!"

Shippou let out a quick hiss, shoving Hakkaku out of his way and shaking his head to warn Kouga away from those kind of questions even as he tossed a smirk back at the rapidly darkening look on Kurama's face the longer the wolf's hands stayed on her, "I thought you two might want to kiss and make up now that Kouga's done with his work abroad and back in town."

`Why that lousy little good-for-nothing shit!!' Youko hissed out furiously, eyes narrowing at the interfering kit. `He knew… He knew that Kagome would behave this way to this fucking wolf! Kiss and make up my ass, he's trying to bring in an opponent who can keep her in their circle!'

He could merely be a friend- Hiei began.

That's not the embrace of a friend, Kurama cut him off in clipped tones, his soft growl of mounting temper echoing the more intense one leaking from his other side.

"What about you? When did you get back?" Kagome demanded, her eyes hungrily moving over the glossy ebony hair that now hung loose about his shoulders, the bright ice-blue eyes she so clearly remembered, and the way the chiseled features of his face had lost the last hint of juvenile softness. Her hands followed her eyes, ghosting over each change before patting down his chest and shoulders through the plain white cotton of his shirt to feel if his body had made any other obvious alterations since their last meeting, "Look at you! You look so… so modern!"

Kouga let out a bark of laughter at her description, hauling her gracelessly up against his chest again, "Ah, Kagome, you're supposed to say `Kouga, you look amazing and handsome, and now I would love to be your woman.'"

Youko's very audible snarl of outrage at that comment was fortunately drowned out by Kagome's ringing laughter at hearing such a familiar "Kouga" response, but the way the wolf lord's eyes slanted over to more carefully assess the kitsune standing tensely beside Souta said very clearly he'd both heard and understood the unspoken challenge that had been voiced.

And from the way he shrugged and turned his full attention back down to the miko in his arms, it was just as clear that he simply didn't intend to acknowledge the other male as a threat.

`Oh, I'm going to enjoy tearing his limbs off one at a time,' Youko flexed his fingers, lifting one hand to trail his tongue over his claws and kicking at Kurama when he refused to mimic the more open threat. `What the hell are you waiting for? A fucking invitation? Get his hands off her and do it now!'

Don't rush it, Fox, you're outnumbered, Hiei warned, shooting him a steady glare.

`I won't have difficulties with these children,' Youko hissed out meaningfully.

Hiei's right, Youko, we can't just run in without provocation-

`We've had plenty of provocation.'

Not yet, Kurama gave that command firmly, his own teeth grinding together at the control it took to deny the urge to do exactly what Youko demanded. It was the intensity of the need to kill just for seeing them touching her with obvious affection that gave him pause, uncertain as to why it affected him so severely.

Youko snorted in disgust, `Fool. You are feeling exactly as you should be to see another handling what belongs to us. We will not permit others to touch her so familiarly without our permission, and not before she has openly declared her acceptance of us exclusively.'

Double standard, Hiei rolled his eyes.

`Her problem, not mine,' Youko intoned flatly. `She's human, and I want her devotion. That means all her lust and adoration will belong to me, not spread out amongst these weak creatures trying to stand in our way.'

I'm still counting the days until your ass gets fried for being such a domineering pervert, Hiei shrugged and trained all his senses back on the miko's conversation, hoping for something new.

"Baka," Kagome swatted Kouga playfully and took a step back, folding her arms over her chest and making a show of sweeping her gaze over him at that short distance to complete the picture of that modernized appearance in his thick leather boots and baggy earth-toned pants. "Of course that would practically be the first thing you say to me."

Kouga chuckled and reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear, coming to a surprised stop when he suddenly found his wrist tightly bound in a thin vine, the plant sliding around his exposed skin and tightening sharply. As he watched curiously the rose hiding in her hair let out a high-pitched hiss and bared its teeth against the intruder, "Eh? What the fuck is this little thing?"

"Protection," Kurama's eyes flashed as he gritted out that low answer, stopping Kagome from reaching up to pull it away as she looked over her shoulder to take in the warning rise in ki from her self-declared lover. "From youkai who don't know when to keep their hands to themselves."

Kouga's eyes narrowed as his expression changed to bland calculation, turning his wrist experimentally under the hold of the vine and tensing as he prepared to rip the irritating thing in half, "Protection? Who the hell do you think you are to claim such rights against her family, you ballsy pretty boy?"

"Kouga-kun, this is Youko Kurama," Kagome slipped in to diffuse the aggression-heavy atmosphere, reaching up and sliding her fingertips down the vine with a stern jolt of ki to make it release the wolf. Drawing it back to her hair and carefully removing its energy to bring it down to a more docile level before it was hurt, "He's a… friend of mine," she added before glancing up and pointing to the wolf while she addressed the tense kitsune. "Kurama, this is Kouga… he's the prince-"

"Lord," Kouga corrected, winking at her as he revealed that rise in position. "I am the Wolf Lord of the Mountains and ambassador to the Western Lands."

Kagome's brows lifted, lips curling up as she whispered softly, "You've been busy."

"My woman deserves only the best," he returned with a slight bow that had her laughing again at just how much older he seemed from that first disastrous meeting in the past.

"Your woman?" Kurama enunciated sharply, making sure to insert a finely edged warning into those two words.

"And that one?" Kouga ignored it again, appearing completely unfazed by the mounting anger in the kitsune's aura as he calmly observed the razor thin cuts crisscrossing his wrist, bringing it up for a lick as his healing closed the superficial wounds.

"Hiei," she was back to frowning in concern at him as she answered, holding out her hand and waiting for him to obediently lay his wrist in it for her own perusal to be certain he would suffer no ill effects of the possessive little rose. "He's a friend of Kurama's, and a dessert thief."

"Dessert thief?" Kouga's brows almost vanished into his hairline in confusion as he repeated that, looking down at her with his head quizzically cocked to one side as she gave the arm a final pat and released it.

"Nee-san's still bitter about losing a dessert to him a few weeks back," Shippou rolled his eyes and silently muttered to himself that she would bring up something like that in a serious situation.

Hiei could feel his head tilt ever so slightly to one side, brows drawn together as he tried to figure out just what to make of being referred to as something so banal with his own formidable reputation. Yet, that thought was gone a moment later when he saw the wolf's eyes narrow towards them and flash brighter with a knowledge he refrained from sharing out loud, but easily showed that he knew those names for the youkai they were.

`Fuck, it's about time we got a little recognition,' Youko clenched and unclenched his hands, pondering just how he should kill this person so casually declaring his lover would belong to anyone else.

Makes you wonder how much recognition, Hiei remarked thoughtfully, wondering what would happen if he tried to penetrate this cold-eyed youkai's mind when he carried the same empty aura as all the others in the miko's company, but seemed less inclined to behave as deceitfully as the others.

Kagome let out a squeak and fell over when one of the wolves grew impatient, sinking his teeth into her pants and giving her a yank backwards in its effort to draw acknowledgement downwards to the neglected creatures. She was laughing as she was swarmed, unaware of the way not only Hiei and Kurama had abruptly tensed, but Souta as well before she wrapped her arms around the nearest head to stop the enthusiastic licking, "All right, all right, I get the hint!"

Kouga's eyes warmed with affection as he looked down at the massive creatures looping their heads under her arms and hauling her a fair distance away at the silent, commanding gesture he gave both Ginta and Hakkaku, waiting to be sure they had a relative sort of privacy before he sighed and observed mostly to himself, "Ah… They missed her all right. Greedy little bastards."

"They won't hurt her, will they?" Souta tightened his hand on her shakujou, inwardly marveling at how heavy it was while his nervous gaze continued to stray to the wolves pouncing his sister. Didn't Jii-chan say the youkai wolves ate human flesh? Wait… don't all youkai eat human flesh?

"My wolves? Hurt Kagome?" Kouga snorted as thought the very thought was deeply insulting. "They wouldn't dream of it. They're just excited to see her again is all, last time they were pups."

Pups? Hiei's eyes narrowed, darting a look over at the swarm to try and just how old the creatures would have to be now to have their considerable size. That can't be right…

Shippou cleared his throat, shooting Kouga another speaking glare as he drawled out in warning suggestion, "Didn't Big Dog call you and tell you some of what was going on Kouga?"

"Hm? Ah…that. So these are the Reikai-level brats sticking their noses into places they don't belong?" Kouga folded his arms over his chest, feet spreading apart in a more aggressive stance as the playfulness he'd displayed around Kagome changed to a coldly amused glare, eyes straying to the fox-smelling human looking at him with murderous intentions in those color-shifting eyes. "So this is the avatar…?" pathetic, a youkai taking a human body as a hiding place.

"Kurama here has announced to Sesshoumaru publicly that he's Kagome's lover," Shippou jerked his thumb in the proper direction to indicate the other youkai.

"Leave it to a kitsune," he muttered and rolled his eyes.

"How about leaving that generalization out of it?" Shippou turned a sour glare on the unaffected lord.

"There's a reason I gave your obnoxious ass to Sesshoumaru, kit," Kouga returned casually, uncrossing his arms to rest one fist on his hip and scowling when the two foreign youkai moved into more defensive positions. "Relax. If any of us wanted you dead it would have happened already."

Kurama let out a short laugh that held little amusement, one hand moving back to rest his fingertips in his hair just in case, "My… isn't that an arrogant thing to say when you've never even seen us before, Kouga is it?"

More wolves began to slink out of the forest to come to their lord's side when the ki in the grove reached a new level, growling their warnings at the unfamiliar pair until Kouga reached out and patted them comfortingly on the heads, "Not at all. Especially not with-"

"What do you really want with Kagome?" Shippou cut him off, sliding around under the guise of facing them while he shoved his elbow into the startled wolf's stomach to warn him off that kind of bragging. "She already has us, and she's well protected by our youkai. She doesn't need you adding your presence to give her headaches and nightmares."

Kurama's eyes were instantly darkening with suspicion at the way the younger kitsune had stopped this lord from revealing something that he could practically taste was important to solving the puzzle, "My interest is personal, kit, you know that. You were there when I declared my intentions formally to Sesshoumaru."

Kouga let out a derisive snort of laughter and shook his head, "Personal? You? Give it up, mate," he drawled the title he'd picked up from the peculiar linguistics of the humans in England mockingly, enjoying the way that simple word had the man's lips tightening in displeasure. "Kagome would never be allowed to casually shack up with a kitsune."

"I never said it was casual," Kurama's voice took on a deceptively honeyed tone that had Hiei turning a wary frown on him, but his eyes never once left the youkai pair in front of them.

Kouga's stance slowly lost its relaxed air, the amusement fading from his eyes as he shifted into a more openly aggressive position, "Then you can definitely forget it. Kagome's pack and the last thing we'll permit is some arrogant fucking reborn avatar trying to take her away from us. Sesshoumaru would marry her himself before he let that happen."

Shippou blanched at the mental image those words conjured up, visibly disturbed by the thought even as he reluctantly nodded his agreement to Kurama, "He's right. We're a very private family, and we're all protective of Kagome, Red. Find a different girl to have your fun with."

"If you call me by that disrespectful nickname one more time, little kit, I'm going to break you in half no less than three times," Kurama's fists clenched when Youko spilled over to let out that deep-throated promise under the continued insult.

Shippou rested his hands on his hips, cocking one out in a particularly arrogant stance and smirking as his eyes flashed in challenge, "You think you can take me on, you-?"

"Shippou-chan, if you're trying to pick a fight, I'll bust your ass as soon as we get home!" Kagome's voice carried over from her place with the rest of the pack, making the younger kitsune wince and turn a pout back at her stern expression. "Kurama has been a perfect gentleman…. mostly."

"Yeah, a `perfect gentleman' with a mind like Miroku," he muttered under his breath, pasting on a bright, innocent smile when she turned a pointed look on him.

`What did he just say-?!' Youko suddenly leaned forward, ears twitching as he tried to decipher if he'd actually heard what he thought he had.

Kagome said that name the first time we met, Kurama's eyes narrowed, taking a step forward before he forcefully stopped himself, wanting more than anything to grab the younger boy and shake the answers out of him at hearing that spoken a second time in association with himself. But if Shippou had spoken that name unintentionally -as he suspected, he didn't want to set him on guard again when there was so much potential to get more vital information.

`She called us by that name,' Youko corrected to specify, growling with anger at the memory of there being someone else in her life to make her eyes soften to the liquid emotion he'd become so transfixed with the moment they had met his own. `Who the hell is Miroku and why was she looking for him in our eyes?'

Maybe their wariness of letting her be with a kitsune is due to something more specific than what we thought, Hiei added his own thoughts, glancing over at Kagome with a frown. This Miroku person may have come before you and caused them difficulties, or hurt her and abandoned her.

`Then we'll kill him. Problem solved.'

You're in a bloodthirsty mood, Hiei remarked with a definite thread of amusement, unable to deny that he was thoroughly enjoying Kurama's displeasure towards the other youkai. What would you be saying if the wolf kissed her in front of you?

`We would not be having this conversation, we would be destroying evidence of his most unfortunate, accidental demise,' Youko shrugged as calmly as though he'd just decided what to have for dinner.

We don't need to be having those thoughts yet, Kurama tried to soothe his own less than welcoming emotions towards the wolf to calm Youko down, taking a deep breath and looking at the scene with a more objective eye. Kagome is happy to see him, yes, but her eyes didn't have the longing we can make in them, and her hands didn't linger the way his did. Not to mention Shippou is having to continuously cut him off as he speaks. This wolf is not as sneaky as the others, and he might give us answers we need if we talk him around them carefully.

`Taking advantage of his tactless nature?' Youko snickered at the thought, settling back much more calmly as he folded his arms across his chest. `Yes, I knew there was a reason I let you stay on top, Kurama.'

Now it was Kurama rolling his eyes in exasperation, You make it sound like you had a choice, and stop acting like you weren't thinking the same things.

`I'm just so proud that you're finally letting yourself think of things the way we should be thinking,' Youko responded, winding his arms around their soul in a more open display of the pleasure in his rich voice. `Sometimes I wondered if you intended to ignore our soul completely for this humanity bullshit you pretend to enjoy.'

Kouga had gone back to ignoring them as the wolves around him continued their wary growls, his good-humor restored at finally seeing the kitsune who'd tormented him for decades being brought down by the one person he would truly listen to and obey, "Oi, Kagome! You're coming to dinner with us tonight, got it? We've got a lot of time to make up for since you were taken."

Taken?!

Shippou kicked him when he saw the curiosity light in the ever-watchful, painfully sharp eyes of Kurama and Hiei, hissing out, "Dammit, Kouga, shut up! She's already got plans to introduce Sesshoumaru to her mother."

"Oh?" he blinked, completely unperturbed by the strike that should have at least garnered a flinch. "I'll tag along then. I want to see that damned shrine too."

He clapped a hand over his eyes, lamenting the straightforwardness of the wolf lord even as he felt the ki around the grove spike with triumphant curiosity, "Kouga, I hate you."

Kouga reached over and grabbed him by the back of the neck, squeezing as he lifted the much younger youkai off his feet and shook him as though he were no more than a disobedient pup, "Did all that respect fall out of your empty kitsune head while I was gone? Sesshoumaru is too easy on you."

`Sometimes I love wolves,' Youko's smile took on a malicious edge, not only at the handling the kit was suffering, but the welcome bluntness to his speech after all the carefully woven lies surrounding these youkai. `Not to mention he's making Shippou's attempt to inconvenience us backfire in the most wonderful way.'

If Sesshoumaru is too easy on him, I almost feel sorry for whatever this lord thinks is proper punishment, Hiei arched an eyebrow at the mutinous look on Shippou's face when the shaking finally stopped, but his eyes continued to return to the wolf lord in speculation, nudging at the edges of what he hoped was his mind's path in an effort to encourage more of these revealing comments. But you're right… he's giving us more pieces since he arrived then we've had in the entire time we've known of this damn legend.

Unable to successfully squirm himself down, Shippou resorted to a different method, making his eyes huge and liquid in the way only baby animals and apparently kitsune could perfect as he twisted to whine out, "Kagomeee! Kouga's being mean to me!"

"What'd you do?" she called back dryly, not even looking up from where Hakkaku and Ginta had taken to hovering just behind her and grinning over some story they were whispering in her ears. "And don't try the eyes, brat, you know they don't work on me. I know you too well."

Shippou deflated with a pout, "Damn."

"She knows your tricks better than the rest of us," Kouga smirked and dropped him unceremoniously to the ground, not the least bit surprised to see him agilely catch and right himself with a huff. "And you're too old to make the mother in her get gooey in such a peaceful situation."

Kagome's head snapped around when she felt the sudden rise in power, inexplicably drawn to the source of what radiated such incredible focus and strength in such a short span of time and fighting off the knee-jerk desire to reach out for it as she alerted her companions to the change, "Kouga. Shippou."

The pair came to attention immediately, following her glassy eyes to the shorter youkai in front of them and bringing threatening growls spilling from their throats at the implications of her tone, "Oi… whatever the hell you think you're doing, half-pint, you've got five seconds to knock it off or I'll do it for you."

Hiei frowned slightly, not at the words, but at the way his attempt to see into this Kouga more directly had so abruptly disrupted and unraveled against his control. Confused and suspicious, he glanced from the youkai in front of him beyond to where Kagome had risen to her feet, her expression intent and just as searching as his own, "She felt it."

Felt it? Kurama glanced sharply at his companion.

The Jagan, he tilted his head, watching her silently for another moment before he murmured quietly, "I thought you said you weren't a very good miko."

"Not a very-?" Kouga took a reflexive step back, eyes clouding for a moment in confusion before he let out an irritated growl and spun around to face the girl standing amongst his wolves. "Gods, Kagome, aren't you off that fucking kick yet? How many times do I have to tell you that Inukkoro didn't mean it any of the times he said it? He just didn't want you to get strong enough that you didn't need his obnoxious ass!"

"Kouga!" Shippou snapped out in a sharper tone than any of the others had heard come from him before. "Bad timing!"

`Inukkoro? Sesshoumaru?' Youko was nearly coming out of his skin he was so excited, positively gleeful at seeing this wolf so true to the direct-spoken nature of his kind that Shippou looked ready to rip out his own tail and gag him with it.

And he doesn't seem to hold the same agreement that she's weak, Hiei's own voice held a note of satisfaction, finally feeling some justification for all the annoyances of trying to feel out these empty auras beyond the insistence that it was due to a lack of power. She's responsible somehow… even if she's not a traditional miko, she has to be the one behind their ability to hide. They're protecting that from us.

`I'm willing to forgive his existence so long as we can get him to keep speaking and revealing important things,' Youko declared smugly. `At this rate, we'll know all about our lover and whatever skills she's hiding from us in no time!'

Ignoring all of them, Kouga swore under his breath and stalked through the parting wolves to plant himself directly in front of Kagome, reaching out to grip her shoulders firmly and give her a light, chiding shake, "How long has it been since you found us again? What the hell got into your head to make you think of yourself in such a deprecating manner?"

"Kouga-kun, not now," Kagome grabbed his wrists and whispered, slanting a nervous look at Hiei's unblinking gaze as those claret eyes began to glow. She dipped her head to hide the movement of her lips, carefully shielding her voice from reaching that far, "His youki was trying to find a point to mix with yours, moving in it. Like Goshinki… remember what I told you about him?"

Shippou's eyes widened when he caught the whispered name and just as quickly narrowed, backing away to stand protectively in front of Kagome, "No fucking way… You sure?"

Kouga rolled his eyes and reached over to smack him upside the head, "That's the kind of shit-talking that gets her on those `I'm not good enough' slumps, you idiot. Kagome doesn't get it wrong."

"So that's why his youki's jumbled," Kagome was murmuring as everything started to blur around the edges, her eyes taking on a strange reflective quality behind the shielding forms of Kouga and Shippou as she let her soul reach out to stroke along his aura without giving it a path to trace back to her as the source if he managed to feel it. "He… has something… it makes it harder to feel him."

Kouga let out a grunt, reaching up and pressing his hand flat against his chest just below the clavicles, twisting to frown at her over his shoulder and murmur gently, "Ease up, love… this isn't the place for it, but if you're feeling sick I'll handle it until Sesshoumaru gets in."

Hiei's brows instantly snapped together, fixating on that spot as the wolf drew his hand away, the fabric catching and tugging for a split second to reveal a vague pink burn in the otherwise flawless skin, but moving back into place before he could make out any details, Dammit all to hell, there was something on Takashima there too! What is it?

What is what? Kurama demanded, searching the lord for what could have set the hybrid's temper off in such a fashion. What are you looking at that I can't see?

Hiei would have smiled at the frustration in the kitsune's voice if it wasn't so plainly echoed in his own, habitually gripping the hilt of his sword as he watched the wolf speak to Kagome in low, undecipherable tones, Takashima had a brand… on his chest, where the wolf just pressed on himself. I saw something that may have been the same thing with identical placement on him.

`Could they have another set of family markers?' Youko growled out, tail flicking with the desire to pin them both down and perform a thorough search, but now was neither the time nor the place for the battle that would start, and Shippou's skills would be heightened enough in his element to be difficult. `But why a burn? Markings are usually magic made… wait, youkai skin doesn't scar from burns.'

And Kagome doesn't have any symbols in that place to match, we would have seen it with the way she wears lower necklines, Kurama pointed out, their minds racing around possibilities rapidly with this new piece of the puzzle. She has that crescent Sesshoumaru put on her shoulder from his protection… but that's hardly an intimate placement. Why would they have brands in such an important area that she doesn't share when they're so possessive?

Souta was the one who unintentionally diffused what could have become a very nasty situation, very quickly when he shifted the shakujou, antsy at the clashing ki bouncing around the grove and trying to offer an escape once he caught sight of his sister's paling face through her living shields, "Nee-san… If we don't leave now, we're going to be late… and Okaa-san wouldn't appreciate that."

The tinkling sound of the rings snapped Kagome's mind out of that hazy place it had traveled to so rapidly that if the wolves hadn't been so attentively standing around her, she would have dropped to her knees. Her hands gripped the fur beneath them tightly, blinking as she reoriented herself to the present and forcing herself to sound as normal as possible as she answered her brother, "I think you're right, Souta." You have no idea how much you just saved my ass, you beautiful brat, but I swear to gods, I'll make it up to you any way you ask me to.

"I'll even drive," his voice gained strength with her agreement, standing straighter and taking a step only to stumble and nearly fall under the unnatural weight of the shakujou, glaring at it in disbelief before readjusting his hold to prevent further embarrassment.

"And kill us all," Kagome's lips twitched, lightly brushing her open hand across first Shippou and then Kouga's backs to indicate it was safe enough to move aside. That was close though… dammit all, why do they have to feel so interesting to me? I want to… no.

"I'm a good driver," Souta pouted, making a face as he handed the shakujou to Shippou, a comical look of disbelief taking over when the kitsune distractedly tossed it to Kagome. He had reached out, terrified that the boy was about to unintentionally cause her serious damage when her hand snapped out just as absently to snatch it from the air and bring it to a relaxed position, "Ha…" Damn, that's just not right.

Youko started to chuckle, but it still held an edge, the way it always did when he was in his `information-gathering mode' and fitting everything into neat little spaces in his seemingly fathomless memory, `Well, well… it looks like our lover really is stronger than she looks.'

But why would they want something that simple even to be kept quiet? Hiei was starting to get agitated, trying to silently stare her down enough to get something… hell, even a flinch to indicate they were moving in the right direction.

Kagome didn't even look at him, kneeling down and hugging the wolves tight as her mood lightened under the disappointed and cajoling whines coming from the lethal animals as they pushed into her, "I promise to come play again soon, but I haven't been to see my mother in a little too long. And Kouga-kun looks jet-lagged."

"Youkai don't get jet-lag," Kouga frowned, thunking her on the head lightly with another deep chuckle.

"Just like youkai `don't get sick,'" she rolled her eyes and stood again, tossing her ponytail back over her shoulder and smiling when she felt the rose reweaving the loosened knot for her. "I'll see you in the office on Monday."

Kouga arched an eyebrow at her, "You'll call me as soon as you get home and let me know you're all right or I'm on my cell to Sesshoumaru the second you're gone with my report."

"That's not fair!" Kagome rounded on him to protest, stopping when he pressed a finger against her lips and gave her a practically heart-melting smile.

"No mistakes this time," his voice dropped down, more serious than she could ever recall hearing as she continued to stare at him, absolutely baffled by the differences the centuries had made to his behavior.

Right until she felt a taut arm snake around her waist and jerk her back into what was rapidly becoming a very familiar, well-defined chest before Kurama's other arm joined the other, lifting her off her feet and walking her back several steps until he decided there was enough space between her and the growling wolves.

You have serious issues about this miko, Kurama, Hiei couldn't help but observe, still more than a little surprised at just how quickly the kitsune had moved when he noticed the way Kagome's face softened towards the wolf lord.

"You have serious issues about me and other men, you know that, right?" Kagome obliviously repeated the words Hiei had just spoken, making the hybrid snicker softly in his head when she turned an exasperated frown up at the man holding her so possessively.

`I do not trust other men to control themselves around our lover,' Youko responded primly, turning up his nose arrogantly even as he added his hold to Kurama's and pulled her up tighter against his chest.

How altruistic, Hiei's sarcastic remark had Youko giving him a clear impression of a rather crude, suggestive gesture.

`I also will not tolerate anyone attempting to draw her eyes into that expression,' he buried their face against the side of her neck and inhaled deeply, turning golden eyes up to flash a deeper warning at Kouga. `It's mine.'

Rather than say such things to her, however, he turned his face to press an open-mouthed kiss to the skin below her ear and murmured softly, "You weren't thinking of leaving me without giving me a goodbye kiss after I've been gone for so long, were you, Kagome?"

`What the hell? Kurama! What are you talking about?' Youko snapped to attention, fingers splaying to find better, tighter holds in her clothing. `She isn't leaving! We only just got to her!'

Dinner with her mother, Youko, if we step between that we'll lose points, trust me, Kurama sternly put his foot down, reasserting his control with the ruthless direction the kitsune had drilled into him practically from the womb. We need to end this on a note that makes sure she's thinking of us and wanting more, not cursing us for being selfish. I am not going to let your impatience put this in jeopardy, and before you say it, no.

`What makes you think I was going to say anything?' Youko grumbled, very obviously unhappy.

I've had you in my head every waking and sleeping moment of my existence, you tend to get to know a person that way, he responded sardonically, rubbing his cheek on Kagome's to draw the warmth of her body into his own hungrily. Now shut up and help me make the most of it. I want a good kiss, and we won't get it if you're pouting.

"If you get a kiss will you stop trying to squeeze me in half?" Kagome squirmed half-heartedly, momentarily toying with the idea of smacking him over the head with Miroku's staff and then kissing his cheek while he was sprawled out, but… She bit down on her tongue, hoping he couldn't somehow sense the small action even as her hand ghosted a caress over his waist, Damn you… I did miss you.

"I might consider it," Kurama winked at her, determined to make her ignore the wolf lord as Shippou grabbed onto his ear and started to whisper something to him that his expression indicated he wasn't too pleased with.

`Probably about Sesshoumaru's permission,' Youko shrugged it off as unimportant when he felt the faint stroke of Kagome's fingers, grinning and obediently turning all of his attention down on her. `Shame on her for trying to be sneaky… she definitely missed us.'

Definitely, Kurama agreed, unwilling to examine the way the tension across his shoulders eased the longer he held her against him, felt the slow, steady pulse of her heart beating against his chest. "Although I wish you would agree to come home with me tonight," he was murmuring in her ear before he realized what he was saying. "I'm tired… and I want to fall asleep holding you against me, listening to your heart beating. And I want to know what it's like to wake up and watch your sleeping face next to mine where I could reach out and slide my fingers down your cheek, or your hair. I want to see what color your eyes are when you first open them in the morning."

Kagome sucked in a breath, eyes wide and lips parting when those words sent a jolt of desire pooling warm and heavy in her stomach, Wait… shit. Shit, that's not fair, he isn't supposed to be romantic too-!

Shippou had stopped whispering, looking at him as though he'd spontaneously changed into something from the darkest pits of Makai before turning a worried look on Kagome, opening his mouth and closing it quickly, This is… not good.

Hiei was even eyeing him in surprise, not entirely sure if he had pictured kitsune seduction the way Kurama was behaving, but watching it all the same with a sort of morbid fascination when Kagome swore under her breath and let out a sigh that seemed to come all the way from her toes. Her jaw tightened, voice low and almost inaudible as she admitted her capitulation, "One kiss."

Kurama's eyes lit up in victory, turning her to face him so quickly she practically fell into his chest and sliding his fingertips across the rose to get her hair released from the fighting style to tumble around her shoulders. The change made it a simple matter to sink his hand into it and make a loose fist, turning her face up as he wheedled, "Three."

"One, and if you argue, you don't get that," she insisted, silently hoping he didn't call her on it to find out if it was a bluff or not when she wasn't sure herself, covering her nervousness by passing the shakujou to her brother again.

Shippou flung out an arm, blocking Kouga when the wolf would have stalked forward to bodily separate them and shaking his head as he hissed out quietly, "Don't. You'll make him even more neurotic about having her if you interrupt right now." Coveting the most sought-after prize… We'd never get rid of him if we tried that. He'd be determined to win just out of spite no matter what she did to discourage the attention.

Kurama slanted a look at the other youkai and then at her brother, watching the boy frown in displeasure but stay silent at hearing his sister actually offering the more intimate contact herself, "I can be indulgent, honey… One kiss."

"What if I said no tongue?" Kagome lowered her voice, not in the mood to have Souta acting as though she'd just traumatized him for life for hearing her banter about such things with what had suddenly become a very amused kitsune.

"I'd say don't push your luck," his eyes were practically dancing to show he was teasing her, delighting in the simple fact that she had started to play with him and lifting her up on her toes to tilt her head back into the position he wanted as his mouth came to hover over hers. "I like tongue."

"You talk enough for me to beli-" Kagome started, her lips curving with her amusement when he grew tired of the flirting half-taunts and finally closed the space between their faces. And -true to his word- almost immediately parted her lips with his to slip his tongue into her mouth and toy with her own in languorous, unhurried relish.

`Now this is a greeting,' Youko relaxed, mingling their souls as their hands moved to bring her closer, tilting her head to get her mouth opening more readily under his own and make a thorough exploration. `Gods, I almost forgot how good she tastes.'

Kurama very nearly smiled at just how docile the kitsune half of him became the moment they had her against them like this, the ease of mingling their souls into unified movements that always seemed so strained in other circumstances. Even more with the way he felt her go boneless against him, one of her hands inching back up into his hair while her tongue snuck out and traced the edges of his teeth to pause briefly at his human-blunted canines before he coaxed it back into play.

Kagome almost pulled back when she felt her toes being lifted off the ground, would have if he hadn't taken that moment to catch her lower lip in his teeth and nip her before lightly sucking on it to soothe away the sting in a way that had her world tilting crazily on its axis. Her arms were winding around his neck mindlessly, both hands burying themselves in that fantastic hair as she sighed into his increasingly demanding mouth and let everything fade away but the way he felt and tasted on her tongue, the heat he was so effortlessly sparking in her blood.

The throat clearing behind her had her abruptly jerking away from the kiss, reality crashing down on her as she tried to reorient her scattered thoughts under the realization that "one kiss" had practically turned into his feast. Her shoulders rose and fell in a much heavier rhythm as she fought to fill her starving lungs, passion-fogged mind slowly taking stock of the fact that Kurama had been holding her off her feet against him with one arm wrapped under her backside. Numbly, her eyes traced the other to where it disappeared under the hem of her shirt, his fingers automatically curling under her perusal to prove he'd worked them up under her bra at some point as well.

"Well… I'm going to go gouge out my eyes now," Souta announced in the rather shocked stillness that had settled on the grove, even the wolves too astounded by the boldness of this kitsune and the reaction he'd managed to get out of their miko to react. "Who's with me?"

"That sounds good," Shippou made a face, a little worried over the fact that Kagome was still staring down at Kurama's face, her expression longing and almost… confused?

"Indeed," Hiei seemed surprised to hear himself speak, frowning and folding his arms to scowl off at some distant point in the trees. Are you quite finished?

Not by a long shot, Kurama assured him, but it was easy to hear that he'd intended a deeper meaning than just referring to the kiss, slowly lowering Kagome back down to stand on her own, keeping her tightly against him to spark even more sensitive nerves to life and smiling faintly when her eyes stayed on his through the entire thing. The hand still covering her breast turned, giving her a light squeeze to see her blush darken before he reluctantly moved it down to rest on her hip, But we can be patient…

`I'm willing to give her more time to accept that she's going to be ours completely,' Youko agreed in a much more mellow tone, purring as he used the hold in her hair to draw her forward and press a light kiss to her forehead before he leaned back and flashed her a boyish grin. "Compromise… two kisses."

Kagome blinked, her eyes filled with that same bemusement another moment before they cleared in understanding and she started to laugh, forcing her fingers to untangle from his hair, but unable to stop them from gliding down his jaw when she tried to back away, "You're absolutely shameless."

Souta reached out and grabbed a chunk of his sister's hair, tugging her backwards firmly when he realized the kitsune was looking at her with that hungry look in his eyes, "I am so not watching you do that again. One trauma is enough for this lifetime, thank you very much. SO! We are going to get in the car and drive home while we pretend I never saw you get felt up in front of a group of youkai by a kitsune with a fanclub that ruined at least three of my relationships, all right?"

When he puts it that way, it's actually rather amusing, Hiei couldn't help but remark, lips twitching at the boy's annoyed expression.

Kurama could feel his own helplessly amused smile spreading across his face as he folded one arm over his waist, cupping his elbow in his upturned hand and covering his mouth to hide the way he ran his tongue over his teeth, Actually… I agree with that. Poor kid. Humans tend to shy away from watching their siblings get romantic.

Takashima doesn't exactly look thrilled to be in your impromptu audience either, he pointed out.

`Neither did you, so already so much in common,' Youko folded his arms behind his head and leaned back with a smirk. `At this rate you'll have a good, healthy relationship that should last-`

I'll convince someone of influence in the human newspaper office to write a story on your baby problem, Hiei dared him to finish that with a single look, huffing in satisfaction when Kurama shushed Youko from continuing that train of thought. I can do it, you know I can.

`Temper, temper,' Youko clucked his tongue in disapproval.

Kurama shook his head and decided to ignore them, curling his fingers to rest under his chin as he called out to the blushing boy dragging Kagome away, "Be careful with my lover, Souta-san… I would be most upset if anything were to happen to her."

As though the words had been a signal, Shippou shook his head and darted after them, shooting Kouga one last warning look before he hurried to catch up, "Souta, wait for me!"

"Miss me this time, Kagome," the smile he sent her way as her brothers renewed their efforts and practically hauled her away had chills running down her spine, her lips tugging up despite her effort to keep a mild expression. "Next time I'd like to hear you say it out loud," he explained when he caught that sparkle of curiosity right below the surface, turning it into a blush just as Shippou manipulated the woods around them and had them vanishing from sight.

"And I thought that idiot she married was bad," Kouga snorted in disgust and turned away, making a motion with his hand to send his wolves returning to the woods and start home for the recovery from their extended trip. If he'd looked back he would have seen the utter, naked shock flash across both faces, but he never turned to face them as he sighed and shook his head, twisting it from side to side to get the bones to pop and relieve the lingering travel-stiffness, "If he'd lived long enough to meet you, I'm sure you two would have gotten along perfectly. Ah well… at least there's only one pervert left to get rid of before I can take my woman home, ne? Ja!" he made a hand motion that could have passed for a wave and vanished into the woods, leaving two youkai too stunned to do more than stare dazedly at the place he'd been standing.