Disclaimer: I hold no claim on the characters in this story. In point of fact, the hanyou and 'his' youkai belong to Rumiko Takahashi.
Appreciation: My thanks to Racing Stripes. When you're right, you're right, man.
9.10.07
Surrounded by Ginger Bits
Inuyasha's ear flickered as the beginnings of consciousness seeped into his brain. His gut was telling him that morning had arrived, despite the uninterrupted darkness of the cave. Cave. That would explain why he wasn't in a tree. Trees were good—high, safe, and… high. It was really too early to be thinking thoughts. Sleep-muddied senses protested against waking. The cave felt warm, safe, and… warm, despite the pervasive stench of wolves. Wolves. That would explain the cave. Wolves and caves sorta had a thing going. Made sense. Inuyasha knew there had to be a reason he was here, but it escaped him. His drowsy instincts didn't seem concerned, so he wasn't going to get all worked up about it. It was much nicer to burrow down into the surrounding fur. He might even be able to get some more sleep if he could just ignore that soft snuffling sound near his ear. Snuffling. That would explain the arm around his waist. Wait. Arm? Shit.
Having achieved a higher plane of consciousness thanks to the cold slap of adrenaline, Inuyasha abandoned his immediate impulse to bolt, though not for lack of trying. He couldn't budge. Shit. This can't be good. Tension vibrating through his body, the hanyou reached out with keyed-up senses for a cautious reconnoiter. Yes, there was an arm thrown over his waist, and he could feel another hand loosely wrapped around his ankle. Definitely not good. Something heavy had his legs pinned, only one of his arms was free, and a blunted object was jammed up into his ribs. One silver ear swiveled experimentally. The snoring wasn't limited to the breath fanning his cheek; he picked out the sounds of at least eight others. I'm fucking surrounded.
Inuyasha scrambled to make sense of his current predicament. There was no way he could have willingly ended up under a pile of mangy-tailed wolves. You didn't spend your whole damned life avoiding youkai just to change your mind overnight. How in all the hells did they sneak up on me? Stupid, fucking cave. This is why he liked to sleep in trees. Cracking a golden eye, the hanyou took stock. Warm bodies tumbled haphazardly together, sprawled in a careless tangle of limbs. He was in deep shit. They had him outnumbered, surrounded, restrained, disarmed… Damn it all! Where's Tessaiga?
Cautiously, Inuyasha felt around for his sword, but instead of locating his father's fang, his questing fingertips encountered warm skin, coarse fur, and shit! The hanyou snatched his hand back as the previously unidentifiable shape jutting into his side resolved itself into a wide, canine muzzle. The disturbed youkai shifted restlessly and whined into a lazy yawn, giving the hanyou a good view of its teeth despite the dimness. This was turning into a waking nightmare. He froze when the wolf began sniffing against the thick fabric of his fire-rat, but as soon as it nosed lower and began wuffling appreciatively in the general vicinity of his crotch, Inuyasha's eyes bulged. What the hell? Get it off, get it off, get it off! Without a thought towards the immediate consequences, he grabbed the thing's ear and yanked. An angry snarl made it clear that he'd just fucked up. Stiffening as jaws snapped a hairsbreadth from his more vulnerable bits, Inuyasha twisted his hips away and tried to wrench free from all the draping limbs.
He'd just managed to turn on his side and was about to scrabble away when the arm around his waist tightened, halting his chances for escape as it pulled him back against a hard body. A low growl overruled the peeved wolf, which laid back its ears in reluctant submission before turning in place and resettling with its back to the hanyou. Far from grateful for the intervention, Inuyasha pushed against the encircling arm. "Let go of me," he hissed.
"Go back to sleep, you dumb mutt," mumbled a sleepy voice.
Wait just a fucking minute. Inuyasha's brain executed an impressive face fault, and in the ensuing lull, managed to formulate a strangled, "Huh?"
"Full moon last night. Sleepin' in today. Stop squirmin', dog-shit," came an impatient rumble that left no doubt in the hanyou's mind.
Koga. Of all the people to catch him off guard, it just had to be Koga. There was no fucking way he was going to take this lying down. "I ain't lettin' you get away with this, ya dumb wolf."
"Uh-huh. Wha'd I do?" Koga radiated disinterest as he wrapped himself around the hanyou's back.
"You attacked me," the hanyou whispered furiously.
The wolf gave a rude snort. "This isn't an attack you idiot. My pack offered you shelter. You're enjoying our hospitality, now shut up."
Hospitality, my ass. Damned pack mentality. Since when is sleeping a group sport? This was way too much closeness for his comfort. "Oh yeah, then where's Tessaiga?"
With an impatient grunt, Koga hooked his chin over Inuyasha's shoulder, matching the hanyou's line of sight before pointing towards a shadowy niche where Tessaiga's tattered hilt could be seen keeping company with half a dozen other weapons. "Right there. Happy?"
Inuyasha growled in frustration. Happy? Not even close. He did have a vague memory of being shown to a sleeping alcove the night before, but that did not give these flea-infested wolves the right to gang up on him and fucking spoon him. There was no way he was just gonna roll over and let that loud-mouthed, cocky-assed idiot tell him what to do. The hanyou tugged his ankle free and curled up as tightly as he could. How can they stand this? He was a loner—strong, independent, unapproachable—and not into this big, group snuggle the wolves had going on. Packs—feh. Every part of Inuyasha rebelled against this bizarrely undignified behavior. Every part? The hanyou hesitated. He'd felt safe when he woke up. No! That's just stupid. His way was better, and the sooner he was rid of these clingy, close-knit, clannish youkai, the happier he'd be. He was going to tear Koga a new one, first chance he got. The rest of them too, for treating him like this. Inuyasha fumed silently for several minutes before his eyes drifted shut. It was early yet. He could chew them out later.
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Week 112, Snuggle Theme
1,048 words