Kana: Happy birthday, Vaults-chan. A few weeks – months - early, but with LUV.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha…that's new.

Summary: There's a heat wave running through Feudal Japan, and Kagome has a simple solution to stop Inuyasha's panting.

Early birthday fic for Vaults-chan/sama.

OOOOO

Indian Summer

One-Shot

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"Damn you to the seventh circle of hell."

"It's not going to be that bad…"

"Yes it will…"

"Are you even going to try and hide that whine?"

"I don't whine."

Kagome furrowed her brow, her 'station' already finished.

Sitting in the middle of the open field with the Bone-Eater's well at their backs, Inuyasha glared over his shoulder as he sat in front of her, his hitoe stripped off with a thin layer of sweat on his kosode.

She should have known; even centuries ago they had heat waves in Japan. And everyone had their own way of beating the heat: Sango and Kirara swam in nearby streams, Shippou followed and stood in the rare breezes to the very end, and Miroku…went off somewhere.

But Inuyasha was too stubborn to use any technique to cool himself off. Instead he sat in trees like always, panting enough to put an Akita to shame. Kagome worried that he was going to catch heatstroke; she had only been able to coax him into at least taking off one layer.

But now, after many hours of wheedling and using Big Eyes of Doom, Inuyasha finally was letting her comb and put his thick hair up. Even the fact that it would make him look feminine did little to help him yield to Kagome's pleading – the massive bribe of chichi dango and kompeito brought from her home helped too.

Spread about them was an assortment of combs; a new sharp one, an old orange one, a large one, and a pick. There was also a deadly pair of scissors. Around Kagome's wrist was a thick black band and right next to her was a spray bottle of water.

Pulling a dango from the skewer with his mouth, Inuyasha continued to let his tense back show his irritation. Kagome scowled.

"You might want to put the stick down," She advised after untangling the worst knots with her fingers, picking up the first brush – the largest one. She took it to the snarled hair, ready to begin as the dog ears folded flat to Inuyasha's head in anticipation. Wouldn't want to hurt yourself.

"Wh -."

OOOOO

Sango dropped her cup as an earth-shattering shriek tore through the air. The clay shattered on the floor. Next to her, Kirara's fur stood on end.

"What was that?" She asked.

Miroku and Shippou seemed oddly unaffected, still sipping the cool tea.

"Inuyasha." They chorused.

"What?" Sango breathed, already picking up the cup pieces as Kirara licked her fur back down.

"It was just Inuyasha," Miroku murmured, taking another sip with a stoic face.

Shippou's childish face as equally calm. "Kagome's brushing his hair. It ought to be painful."

"And knowing how immature Inuyasha can be -."

"He wouldn't hesitate to let her know he was in agony."

Sango stared at them before adopting the same expression, her worry vanishing. "Oh." She went in search of another tea cup.

OOOOO

One eye twitching and a sore spot on his head from being smacked with a heavy brush, Inuyasha took another dango. "I hate you."

Kagome ran another finger through a nasty snarl. "I know." She said cheerfully.

"You never said it would hurt."

"I thought I didn't have to, 'Mr. Tough Man'."

"You could have at least said it would sting when you hit a knot."

"Have you ever combed your hair?"

"…once…I declared that I didn't like the experience."

He probably broke the comb… Kagome thought. "So…for decades you haven't combed this rat's nest?" She tried to pull a tangle loose, but failed. She reached for the scissors, cutting the one knot out – she carefully avoided his ears.

No one wanted to see Inuyasha if he found out she cropped off his hair; unless you were behind bullet-proof glass and were safely in a tank…with guns. Nope, not even then. He'd still Kongosoha your ass.

"Yup." Inuyasha chewed thoughtfully. "…it was kinda nice though."

"I thought you said you didn't like the experience?" Kagome said.

"Inuyasha…you're going to have knots in your hair if your keep playing with it…"

It was the only thing I had to play with.

"Inu-chan, have you ever even seen a comb." Light laughter.

A whine. Submissive after feeling the light bone comb though his hair.

"See? Not so bad."

Inuyasha chewed on the dango skewer. "I didn't like it."

OOOOO

"Stop laughing…" Inuyasha sucked on his kompeito. He had run out of dongo half-way through the hour-long hair-brushing session. Kagome had learned he only liked the white and blue ones; since every other colored sugar candy was flicked into the grass a few meters away.

At least Sango and Kagome were no longer giggling – trying to compliment how 'manly' he looked. But Miroku and Shippou still pointed and chortled to no end. The monk even had to use his Shakujo to keep himself upright.

"We're sorry," Miroku snickered, his face turning pink. Then he bowed his head and started laughing again. "Fair maiden."

"Keh!" Inuyasha folded his arms. "Temme." He muttered.

The reason for their hilarity was his thick hair. Kagome – using the promise that she would bring more dongo and kompeito when she went back to her time – had tied it high up in a ponytail with the black elastic so that it fell in a messy wave of white down his back and in front of his face.

"I still say he looks good," Kagome said, her mirthful voice hiding a hint of truth.

Inuyasha stopped scowling -

"I say he looks like a girl." Shippou teased.

- a little.

OOOOO

Kana: YAY, Meh first Inuyasha fic!

Translations:

Hitoe: The red, bell-sleeved jacket Inuyasha wears. Although 'hitoe' is the actual name for it, this particular jacket is known as 'the Robe of the Fire Rat'.

Kosode: The white undershirt Inuyasha wears, seen when he takes of the hitoe. This shirt is rarely seen, since usually he's being stabbed/torn/mangled and has to take it off as well – making many a fan girl squeal.

Chichi Dango: a Japanese dumpling made from mochiko – rice flour. The chichi kind is lightly sweet and usually eaten as a dessert. It is favored by children, so I instantly thought of the early Inuyasha.

Kompeito: A Japanese candy originally made in Portugal. It is made from sugar water.

Kongosoha: The Japanese – and original – name for Inuyasha's Adamant Barrage.

Shakujo: Miroku's staff.

Temme: Inuyasha's common term in the Japanese version, meaning 'you bastard'.

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