A Bitch By Any Other Name

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

~oOo~

"-Sesshoumaru-sama has finally chosen a wife!" Myouga informed Inuyasha.

Incredulous, Inuyasha stared at him as he worked to get his mouth back under his control. Once he'd succeeded, he asked, "Seriously? That frigid bastard has found himself a female to give him heirs?"

Sango shook her head at Inuyasha and looked down at Myouga, who was perched in the hanyou's hand. "You mean he's found himself a bitch, right?"

Myouga frowned, blinking at her in confusion. "No, why would I insult his chosen one in such a manner? He would probably kill me if I ever referred to her as a 'bitch'."

Now it was Sango's turn to look confused, as did Miroku. "But isn't a bitch an inuyoukai's mate?"

Now the elderly flea just looked insulted, as did Inuyasha. "Oi, what the hell do ya mean by that? We'd never call a female that nasty word – well," he added, "not unless she really was a bitch personality-wise. Those are words that humans came up with in reference to mortal dogs, but in case you all didn't notice, we ain't mortal dogs. An inuyoukai's wife is simply a female youkai, that's all. And the word mate is just another word humans use, not inuyoukai."

"I had always thought that people began using those terms after hearing inuyoukai use them in regards to their... wives," Miroku said carefully. "No offense meant, of course," he bowed to the flea, who looked placated enough to allow a slight change of subject.

"Ano... did Sesshoumaru-sama say who the lucky female inuyoukai is to be?" Sango asked, just dying to know the answer to that question. Because as beautiful as the youkai lord was, he was just as dangerous, so the female had to be very strong not to be intimidated by him.

"She isn't even an inu," Myouga replied, his arms folded across his chest as he puffed up with the importance of delivering his news. "She's human."

A tiny, almost unheard squeak came from the little miko that was trying to fade into the background, and as her friends turned to stare at her, Inuyasha found his voice – and the answer to Sango's question.

"What the hell?" he shouted. "You, Kagome? No way!"

Cheeks an impossible shade of red, Kagome sighed and then said, "And if anyone ever calls me a bitch, I'll find a way to make a kotodama that will work on humans, too, are we clear? As for you, Inuyasha," she glared at the shocked hanyou, "I'll just make yours stronger so you hit the ground harder if you start calling me names like that. Don't forget it. I may be going to be your brother's wife, but I'm certainly no bitch."

Inuyasha scowled at that. I wouldn't be too sure about that, wench. You sure can be a bitch when you want to be. And I mean that in the worst way, too.

She didn't need to marry an inu to be called a bitch, if that had even been what they called their females in the first place. No... Kagome had the bitch part covered all on her own-

-as the lumps on his head from being repeatedly slammed into the ground gave silent testament to.

He deliberately strangled off the voice inside his mind that pointed out his own 'bitchy' behavior towards the little miko and berated him for being a hypocrite, because it didn't count.

There could only be one bitch in their pack, and he'd decided that Kagome was it...

… end of story.

Owari