"So what should we call them?" Shippo asked.
They gave the two girls thoughtful looks.
The doe-eyed Kagome timidly pulled at Inuyasha's sleeve, drawing his attention.
"I'm Love, I think," she told him meekly.
"And you?" Inuyasha asked turning to the more aggressive Kagome.
She shrugged. "I guess if she's love then I'm Lust."
"NO," Inuyasha answered with a look of sudden irritation. "If you were Kagome's lust you'd be a lot smaller or somethin."
Kagome's self-proclaimed lust raised her eyebrow at him. "Wow Inuyasha, I had no idea you thought she was made of stone," she replied wryly.
"I think it's sort of flattering," Love murmured from Inuyasha's side. The half demon's ears perked and he gave her a slightly surprised look at the defense.
"Oh sure, it's so flattering that he doesn't notice Kagome is a living breathing person," Lust replied, rolling her eyes sarcastically.
"So you're Kagome-san's lust?" piped in Miroku, sounding intrigued.
At the question, Sango's eyes narrowed and Inuyasha growled warningly, flattening his ears against his head.
"Oh boy," Shippo murmured, shifting uneasily on Sango's shoulder. Behind them, Kirara gave a rumbling sigh.
The monk ignored the others and watched 'Kagome's lust' with fascination. The girl straightened up and narrowed her eyes at him calculatingly.
"But you don't act the way I would imagine an incarnate of lust to behave," he commented.
"You mean I'm not acting like a slut?" she shot back with a huff. Miroku's eager expression finally faltered, if only a little.
"Honestly!" Lust sighed, rubbing her temples in agitation. "I don't know what's worse, Inuyasha's assumption that Kagome isn't capable of feeling lust. Or Miroku's assumption that Kagome is secretly a whore."
"You know they don't mean it that way," piped in Love consolingly.
"He better not have fucking meant it that way," Inuyasha growled furiously, sending Miroku a meaningful glare.
The meaning Miroku saw in his friend's eyes seemed to translate to: 'As soon as the girls aren't looking, I'll give you five seconds to explain yourself before I punch your face in for saying that.' The human gulped at the silent threat.
Lust sighed and looked back and forth between the two men. "Look, Kagome was only spilt in HALF. I'm not purely made of lustful thoughts or something. I've got some other qualities of Kagome's too, and so does she. She got fear, I got courage. She got patience, and I got anger. She got instinct, I got logic. If you can't handle Love and Lust maturely then use fear and courage or patience and anger or instinct and logic. Or whatever you want. I don't care," she snorted, folding her arms angrily.
"I agree," Sango stated, giving both the men in their group disappointed looks. "You're both being childish."
"I just think calling oneself lust deserves a little explanation," Miroku defended pleadingly.
"It's just a quality I have that she doesn't and it's short and easy to remember." Lust explained sharply, looking from one male to the other as if daring them to make more comments.
Inuyasha still wasn't completely sure about calling either half of Kagome Lust OR Love but he knew a lost argument when he saw one. Or at least he feared a lost argument enough to think twice about provoking either girl into trying out a double sit command.
"Fine," Inuyasha consented irritably. "Whatever works."
"Another problem," Shippo chimed in. "Kagome can't ride on Inuyasha's back anymore."
"At least one of us can," Lust pointed out in a considerably calmer tone.
"But still, that leaves one of you without a ride," Sango replied.
"I'm sorry," Love apologized quietly, bowing her head.
"What on earth are you sorry for?!" snapped Lust in annoyance. "It's not our fault we had to save Inuyasha from a weird spell! So don't start whining about nothing."
"I'm sorry," Love replied even quieter, sinking back into Inuyasha's side and hiding behind his arm even more. Inuyasha blinked at the bizarre argument and looked down thoughtfully, wrapping his other arm around her as well.
It was weird having Kagome cling to him like this over something so trivial. He had a lingering urge to push her off with the others looking at them so frequently, but he couldn't. Somehow, she just seemed... fragile.
Lust raised her hands in defeat and turned away with a sigh.
"I'd be happy to give up my seat up on Kirara if Lust-sama would be willing to listen to a few requests..." Miroku stated with a grin.
A look of pure fury erupted over Inuyasha's face, but before he could pry himself from Love and wring the monk's neck, Sango intervened. "OR," she snapped, stepping between the two men and glaring at each of them, "Kirara and I revoke Miroku's invitation to ride with us and invite one of the Kagomes instead."
Inuyasha relaxed a little but kept a glare on Miroku.
"Ooh!" Shippo chimed excitedly. "Can we ask Love?"
Sango simply shrugged. "You can try."
The fox jumped down from Sango's shoulder and scampered up to Love and Inuyasha.
The girl poked her head out from the shield of Inuyasha's arms to look down at Shippo with bright interested eyes.
"Love, would you like to ride with us?" Shippo asked hopefully.
The girl finally pulled away from Inuyasha. He hesitantly released her and she knelt in front of Shippo smiling. "Of course Shippo-chan," she replied sweetly, picking him up for a hug. Then much to Shippo's and everyone else's surprise, she finished casually with "So long as it's alright with Inuyasha." She turned back and looked at Inuyasha. "Is it okay if I go with Shippo this time?" she pled.
Inuyasha almost flinched in alarm at the sweetness of her question. Typically, if she said something to him THAT nicely it meant he was in for a sit. He gulped and quickly nodded his head, looking at her in bewilderment.
She smiled radiantly at him and quickly pressed a kiss to his cheek. His eyes flew wide and his mouth opened slightly in surprise. Miroku made a low whistle and Sango actually giggled at Inuyasha's expression.
Then she stood up and started toward Kirara, carrying the stunned and slightly grossed out kitsune with her.
"Oh come ON," groaned Lust. "You're not his pet, you don't have to ask for permission."
Love ignored her double and walked on. The others took this as a cue to get ready to leave. Sango, Shippo, and Love meeting beside Kirara and Miroku joining them to help gather up the supplies. Lust sighed in resignation and crossed her arms loosely before stepping toward Inuyasha. At her approach, the half-demon flinched away slightly.
She stopped and unfolded her arms, looking at him carefully. Her expression softened.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you're actually afraid of me?" she asked skeptically with a hurt half smile in place.
"I don't know," he replied hesitantly. "I'm still just a little confused."
Lust sighed. "I'm still a little mixed up about the whole thing too. But look, deep down I'm still... Well, I'm at least a part of Kagome. I trust you just as much as I ever have. Doesn't that count for something?"
"Then what was with you snapping at the other- er I mean Love every time she was nice to me? "
"Well put yourself in my shoes for a second," she sighed. "Imagine all of a sudden you're half a person and your other half has no pride whatsoever and just cowers behind Kagome and asks for her permission to do any little thing. Wouldn't you feel pretty embarrassed?"
The imagery gave Inuyasha cold chills of mortification. "Yeah."
"Well then, you understand if I find it annoying that I have to watch as I make an idiot out of myself," she grumbled wearily.
"I get it."
"Anything else bothering you?"
His next statement started off cautiously but ended with a growl. "Well... I kinda have this sneaking suspicion that you're the half that SITS me all the damn time."
She seemed to think about it, and then nodded. "Yeah I think that's me alright," she conceded casually.
Inuyasha felt his gut roll and seriously considered stealing Love back from Shippo. The brat might put up a fight but he doubted Kagome's softer half would mind. She'd been pretty attached to him before...
"But I'm also the one that's brave enough to save your life from crazy ogre witches," she reminded him simply. At the Half-demon's look of sudden surprise, she gave him a half smile. "I'm not Kagome's evil half, I promise."
But when he didn't immediately respond, she shrugged, starting to turn away. "Alright then, if I intimidate you so much, maybe I'll just go walk with Miro-"
Instantly his hands were on her shoulders, gripping her firmly in place. "Like HELL you will!" he snapped at her with a quiet furiosity.
Her smile widened a little and her eyes softened.
"But I thought you were frightened of me Inuyasha..." she replied in a mockingly innocent voice.
"I'm not scared of a weakling like you," he answered. "You're going with me!" he growled in a low voice.
But she wasn't intimidated in the slightest. "Hmmm. I suppose I could obey you... But after that little comment, I feel like being more rebellious... Maybe If you ask me nicely I'll go with you..." She stood on her tiptoes and whispered so only he would hear her, "And then maybe later if you stay nice we can sneak off and go have some fun."
He went stiff as a board in front of her. His hands tightened their grip to iron around her upper arms. His eyes locked on her in stunned amazement. She reached up the best she could, placing her hand over his heart. Her palm felt hot...
"So Inuyasha what will it be?" she purred, tilting her head to make her expression more sultry. "If you're nice to me I don't see why I shouldn't be nice to you. Fair's fair."
He growled lightly and went quiet. "I..." he managed. His grip on her tightened. "Will you... Go with me?" he asked with an expression of timid hopefulness and guilt in a voice only she could hear. Inuyasha blushed at her steady gaze and looked away.
She smiled at his apparent embarrassment but waited for him to continue. When Inuyasha realized he hadn't quite satisfied her, he searched his brain desperately before uttering a reluctant "Please."
She reached up and touched his cheek. Inuyasha glanced down at her, his face beat red. Lust's expression was no longer mocking or playful. Her eyes were honest and bright. "Always," she replied simply.
He swept her up onto his back and took off running. The others started shouting at him to slow down, but somehow he couldn't.
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Authors notes
12/27/16
Edited by Yellow Mustard Sunshine
Cover art by Graprfruitwannabe
Thank you both so much for all your support and assistance!