Hot Commodity
By: Kibou32
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Summary: The fight against Naraku is over. They won and everyone is feeling good about themselves. By mistake of a compound wish made by Kouga, Kagome and Miroku, Inuyasha is turned into the ultimate being and now everyone wants him. But how can he in turn be free of such gift when those who want him don't seem to want HIM as himself but that of who he is now. What will Inuyasha do now when told that the only way for the gift to disappear is if he chooses someone else?.
A/N: Alternate take on what would happen if a miscontrued wish on the jewel makes Inuyasha the target of unwanted attention from both male and female alike. By the way, no squick: ie.: no Kaede + Inuyasha or Jaken + Inuyasha.
Warnings: You've been warned. There is to be a lot of angst. Lots of both Homosexual & Heterosexual connotations and talk of hard core yaoi scenes.
Part IV: The journey.
Kouga
"So what do we do now?" – he asked knowing he was virtually asking what everyone wanted to know in their heads.
"I heard there was a tree that knew of everything and anything. He's really old and knows much of everything there is to know about demons. All demons. He could probably answer your questions Inuyasha-san." – he heard Ayame suggest and he could see that she had a point.
"His name is Bokuseno." – he heard the Tai-Youkai say with certainty.
"You know of him?" – Inuyasha's soft voice led to believe that he was getting excited about the prospect of meeting this tree demon.
"Yes. I know of him. He was a good friend and ally to our father Inuyasha. If we go to him, he'll try to answer all of your questions. He is very knowledgeable. However even the wisest of men may not know all of the answers of the world." – he scowled inwardly at that. What was he speaking of? Could he just say if he would or would not speak to the white haired beauty in front of them?
"Hn. I understand. I was hoping you'd know of him as I know that knowledge never comes free. It is still daylight, we might as well start now. We might be able to cover many ri today if we go fast." – Kouga nodded but then looked from over the corner of his eye towards the two adult humans and cocked his head to the side wondering what would happen to them.
"I agree. We should get going. Is Kirara fit to take us Sango?" – he heard the monk say.
"I don't think you two should go." – Ayame said looking askance. He nodded.
"I will not let Inuyasha go alone. I am his friend. So is Sango. We will go with him whether he wants us to or not." – he heard the monk state firmly.
He watched incredulous as Inuyasha walked over to them and said…
"I am sorry. I can't wait. I know you both are tired. You are exhausted. It has been a long day so far and I know that you couldn't even try to keep up. Not even Kirara can run that fast and she's still tired from the battle. You're bone-weary and I wish that you could come with us –with me but please… stay at the village. Rest. I'll come back." – he could tell that Inuyasha's speech had gotten through to them and knew without a doubt that Inuyasha's eyes oozed the 'trust me' line over and over again. He knew that they would not deny him that. So they sighed and nodded.
"In that case… I will go tomorrow and visit my village. You are right and I still have to fix my Hiraikotsu." – she went over to him and hugged him. He was surprised to see that whilst she hugged him, he did not hug back.
"I will also set out tomorrow. I have to go see Mushin and tell him that I have not been consumed by my kazaana. We will be waiting for you to come back." – and Kouga saw him extend his hand to his silver hair beauty and was shocked to the core when the puppy accepted it and shook his hand as well!
Shippou
Inuyasha had been correct. By the time it was nightfall, they were at least one third of the way. They had never met this tree, but as he kept on talking with Rin; he could tell that Rin had met this tree-demon and was okay with it. And if she was okay, then so were he to be okay once they met him.
It was as the darkness approached them that he saw what Kouga and Ayame had failed to notice, his father was limping slightly from his left leg.
"Inuyasha." – he heard the Tai-Youkai state.
"I agree. We should stop here for the night." – he said…
"I'll go fetch some water from the springs." – he heard Ayame say. He still didn't understand why she hadn't gone back to wherever she came from, but as long as she helped out it was okay.
"I'll go hunting." – he heard Kouga say and when they left it was only them four. Rin had settled down to build a fire whilst Jaken… it was then he noticed that the toad was gone.
"I Can see you are limping. What is the matter?" – he heard Sesshoumaru ask and he felt his eyes grow wide. Would his father deny it or would he say something else?
He saw his adopted father look down at his left leg and said…
"It has been bothering me for awhile. Is it because I'm not wearing shoes?" – and the way he tilted his head a bit had Shippou smiling a bit. In that moment he could see that he looked so endearing that even the cold Sesshoumaru would have any difficulty from getting ensnared into it.
Sesshoumaru
He could feel himself flush inwardly at the cute expression on his half-sibling's face. He shook himself internally to stop himself from looking like an idiot and said…
"I do not think that that is the reason for your limp. Sit down on that rock." – he watched as his lithe sibling sat down and he knelt in front of him.
He immediately began to feel uncomfortable. Whatever the scent Inuyasha emitted meant, it made him feel lightheaded. He motioned his sibling to position his left calf on his knee so he could sense what could be wrong with him that made him limp. The sight of that white hairless leg when Inuyasha's hakama was pulled up from where it gathered loose had him a bit woozy and he could have sworn that he could've collapsed if it hadn't been for his pride.
He gently touched the calf and noticed three thin lavender jagged lines hugging his leg just as the three lavender marks did on his wrists. He heard him shudder a bit and this made him wonder why were his marks so soft and sensitive. His two magenta stripes were not soft and moreover they were not sensitive to the touch. He decided to muse this later when he used his thumb to gauge how thick his bone were and found to his relief that there was nothing wrong with his leg. He then raised the foot to his face and found the reason for his limp.
His brother did not limp because he had a thorn on his foot or because of a previous injury before the wish was made. It was because he had the mark of a western star clouded over by the sun on one side and the moon on the other side. He touched the mark and noticed instantly how much his brother quivered. Was this the reason Inuyasha limped but didn't really felt all that different because it was not an injury? An injury would hurt and make the young youkai wince in pain. A birthmark – here he paused for a moment in his inner thoughts – was it like a birthmark? If it were could he have had this way before and since no one bothered to look at a foot, he couldn't have known about it.
"So? What is it?" – he heard his brother ask him.
Instead of answering, he said: "Rin. Bring forth your ink and parchments."
"Hai!" – so she immediately set out to do that.
When she came forth bringing the supplies, he intended to draw the picture on his brother's foot but found that whilst his calligraphy was impressively good, his drawing skills were down to nothing.
"What are you doing?" – he heard him ask again.
"There is a mark here that I have to reproduce. Once we get to Bokuseno, he might be able to tell you what does it mean and why is it so sensitive."
"I see. I had not bothered to check out anything else about the marks… but why on the sole of my left foot? Is there another mark on the sole of my right foot?"
He frowned. He let the left foot go and grabbed the other one to see and sure enough there was a mark. But it wasn't a star, it was a full moon. He wondered why it was so… did that mean anything?
"There is another mark here." – he said to avoid being asked about it.
"Shippou!" – he heard his brother say in a loud voice.
"Yeah?" – he looked over in front of him and saw how the kitsune had bounded over to them and landed in Inuyasha's lap.
"Will you draw both of the marks on the soles of my feet?" – he queried and Sesshoumaru was instantly left feeling bereft.
And a little annoyed. At the end when Kouga came back with a deer hung over his shoulder, Shippou had already finished drawing the marks and was coloring them with some sort of colored wax. Upstaged by a young kitsune pup! How disgraceful!
Ayame
When night came, she made her own bed near the shade of a big tree and she watched in amusement at Kouga who was sitting on his hind legs because apparently he slept in his full youkai form. She turned over and saw both the young ones sleeping together.
And then she looked at Inuyasha and felt her heart thump faster. He was asleep on top of a sturdy branch of the tree that split him from both Kouga and Sesshoumaru. He looked pensive even in his sleep and she wondered what might've happened whilst she were picking up water and Kouga were hunting for a meal.
Rin
When she awoke the next day, she knew that she had overslept as she could feel the dragon moving steadily thru the wind. He wasn't walking, he was flying and he only did that when their master was in an extreme hurry. She opened her eyes and stared at Shippou's red hair. She then looked behind herself and saw how she was being upheld by Inuyasha-san's strong arms.
"You're awake." – he stated but she heard it as a question.
"I'm a bit hungry Inuyasha-san, is there anything to eat?" – she asked and felt him nod. He made a grab for something beside him and she then could tell how long she had slept.
It was at least three hours past noon. No wonder she was hungry!
She ate and contemplated the idea of him sitting on top of Ah-Un. What did it mean? Were it due to those marks that Shippou had drawn? Was that the reason they weren't walking? She hoped that those marks were only marks and not something that could cause Inuyasha-san pain.