Clear skies. Warm weather. Soft cool breeze. Who could ask for more? Stopping at a small village settled nicely between a dense forest and a clear river everyone was enjoying themselves. Kagome and Sango spent their time in the village accompanied by Shippo while Miroku was dozing by the river with a fishing rod in hand.
The only one who did not seem to be relaxing was Inuyasha who was busying himself with pacing the outskirts of the village and eyeing the tree line warily. Earlier Kagome had attempted to get him to relax but after some arguing and a great deal of growling on Inuyasha's side she gave up and was more than happy to leave him be.
If only she knew. Inuyasha thought if only her weak human nose could smell what was out there. Not that he intended to tell her or the others. At least not yet.
"Damn wolf," he said under his breath.
The breeze had been carrying his scent out from the woods for some time though Inuyasha was certain that Kouga did not know they were here and he would not so long as the wind did not change direction. That was not what really bothered him though. It was how he was not picking up any other wolf scent. Kouga was traveling alone and his scent was off. Kouga must be in heat. That sent a few red flags in the inu's mind. Kouga must be looking for a mate.
That and he must be a uke and damned if Inuyasha wasn't at least a little turned on by the aroma. But uke or not the inu knew if Kouga found out that their little group was here too he would surly come after Kagome to claim her. Inuyasha was not about to let that happen either. He let out a sigh and began walking the edge of the village again.
"Inuyaashaa!" Kagome cupped her hands around her mouth to carry her voice further. Not that the inu's ears were not fully capable of hearing her otherwise, "Inuyasha! Dinner! If you want any you better get over here," Inuyasha relaxed from his cringing state. He hoped those trees blocked out sound better than they did smell. He scanned the tree line for the hundredth time that day and headed to where Kagome's voice came screeching out from. After all, the last thing he needed was more crap from the young priestess. If only she knew how he always thought about and protected her if only she knew how he loved her. Not that he was going to tell her. She should be able to figure it out on her own.
His stomach growled ferociously when the smell of food hit his nose. They all enjoyed their meal together and slept restfully.
Inuyasha's eyes shot open and he sat up so fast it took him several minutes to register his surroundings. First off, it was bright out so it must be morning. Looking around he saw Miroku was gone so he must have slept in. He could hear people chatting outside and then it hit him. What woke him up? It was howling.
The inu stood up and marched right out of the guesthouse he had slept in and headed for those voices he heard. As soon as he rounded the house, he could see that flee bitten wolf standing among Kagome and some of the village people. When they saw the half demon approaching with a murderous glare the villagers fled. Kagome looked witheringly at him and soon the wolf and the dog were at it throwing verbal assaults at one another.
"Inuyasha! Sit!"
As always, the command sent the inu smack into the ground.
"What is the matter with you? I swear you go off just like that and…" Kagome went off into one of her rants. While still pancaked on the ground Inuyasha lifted his head to see Kouga staring at him. Inuyasha squinted his eyes into a glare and growled a low warning meant only for the wolf to hear.
Kouga averted his eyes and turned his head away from the irate inu. Kagome suddenly stopped talking obviously finished with her rant and stalked away followed by Kouga. Inuyasha got off the ground and grudgingly followed as well. He was determined not to leave them alone so the rest of the day consisted of walking around the village as Kagome went about her business with the occasional glare sent across to the wolf who surprisingly did not even try to make a move. This went on until everyone had gone off to bed.
In their room, Miroku had already gone off to sleep. Kouga lay staring at the ceiling while Inuyasha sat arms crossed in front of his chest determined not to take his eyes off the wolf. So what if he had to stay awake until Kouga's condition changed. If it meant Kagome was safe then that is what he would do.
"Hey dog breath," Kouga said while still staring up at the ceiling, "quit staring will ya. It's making me uncomfortable." Inuyasha's ears twitched and his eyes squinted to glare at the wolf.
"You're uncomfortable? Are you?" Inuyasha stood up and pointed menacingly at Kouga, "I've had to put up with you hanging over Kagome all day and on top of that you stink worse than ever. I've had enough of you and your stupid crush on Kagome so why don't you scram before I decide to kill you damn wolf," he waited for the retaliation he was certain would come but the wolf said nothing. In fact, Kouga did not so much as glare at the furious inu. What he did was worse.
Kouga took his eyes off the ceiling and looked right into Inuyasha's with a look of such hurt that made the inu flinch. He then slowly stood up and quietly walked for the door. Inuyasha sidestepped to block his way.
"What's the matter with you wolf? You don't think Kagome is worth fighting for. Leave like that and you had better not show your face around her again, you-"
Kouga swallowed the inu's words with a kiss.
Inuyasha recovered in a second and shoved Kouga away though his shocked expression remained.
"What the hell?" the inu's anger had been pushed aside with pure shock and stood there blinking dumbly, waiting for an explanation. Kouga was looking off to the side at the floor trying to hide his face as the blood rushed to his head.
"Sorry, it's just…hormones" he said not looking up from the floor. Inuyasha opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a certain monk who was no longer asleep.
"Mind continuing your romantic adventure elsewhere? Some of us need their beauty sleep," Miroku sat up leaning back on his elbows with a smirk plastered across his face.
"What?" Inuyasha screeched turning bright red himself.