Kagome sighed contentedly into her arms as she soaked at the edge of the hot spring. She and Inuyasha had eaten breakfast, And now at long last Kagome was getting a proper bath.

The rocky area was quiet and calm. The pleasant breeze from that morning a constant companion in the quickly warming day. It swept through the trees rustling their branches and stirring the water all around her. The sun was high and fluffy white clouds rolled quietly overhead.

However, the moment Kagome had left Inuyasha's side to take her bath a tiny sliver of uneasiness crept back to her from that night. The feeling of the wind against her skin combined with the silence of the area had the unwanted effect of forcing Kagome to remember a time not so long ago when she had longed for a cool breeze or the scent of fresh air. She frowned despite herself.

'Stop thinking about it!' She thought firmly, determined to enjoy her bath as much as possible. 'That's over. Inuyasha promised to keep me hidden and protected. He would never let that monster take me back.'

Kagome turned around in the water to look over her shoulder at the small boulder she had used to prop Inuyasha up the first time she had been here. There was still some of his blood on the rocks nearby and in other places around the clearing.

'Inuyasha's already proven just how far he'd go to keep that promise. When he saved me as a human and then when he fought that snake demon. That time he almost died protecting me.' The young miko tensed remembering the terrible wounds he had received for his troubles. The image of the snake's venom eating away at his flesh made her stomach twist in sympathy and guilt.

'He must have been in so much pain...' she thought miserably.

Her eyes left the blood stain and focused on the boulder. The memory that came to her next was of his dripping white hair and his strange red and gold eyes after he had woken up. She'd felt so small in that moment when he had stood up in the water. But she hadn't been scared, She'd been worried that he would run off and hurt himself even worse.

Kagome remembered the sound of his sharp breaths and the feel of his warm skin beneath her hands. The way He'd frozen in place and looked down at her surprised. The red in his eyes melting away and his expression turning to something like tired hope. Ever since then, he had started flashing her a new look at the strangest moments. When she was watching something or when she was brushing her hair or making tea...

It was a warm expression. Although, Kagome couldn't have said for sure what it was for. She had had little experience with men, least of all men like Inuyasha. The girl felt her cheeks grow a little warmer and turned from the rock back to the big fir tree her companion had ducked behind to wait patiently for his turn.

Her heart's reminders of a darker time dwindled. Instead, she focused on the sunrise she had seen with Inuyasha in her new home. A smile turned up her lips and a warm feeling of fondness swept through her.

"Hey, Inuyasha?" she called cheerfully.

"What is it?" he called back suspiciously from behind his hiding place.

"Do you know somewhere safe where I can forage after this? We ran out of the herbs for rabbit meat you seem to like."

She heard a soft rustle of leaves from the bush next to the tree and could almost picture him shrugging. "I've gone without stuff like that a long time. You don't have to go running around the woods looking for herbs if you're still tired."

"I'm not tired," She told him. "But even if I was, I still need to stay awake so I won't sleep the day away again."

"Don't see why it matters," he answered with a huff. "It ain't like I care if you sleep in or go to bed early."

"Well, I'd rather sew by daylight than use up all our candles," she replied playfully, finding a lock of her hair to twist around her finger as she talked. Kagome didn't bother to bring it up that before all this he'd always made sure to wake her up early for breakfast and had called her lazy before for taking too long. It wouldn't do to start fighting with him today even if their bickering was generally harmless. Besides, she was fairly certain he was only letting her slack off so much because he'd been worried about her.

"Anyway, I also know a lot about roots, mushrooms, fruits, and berries. You said you don't know much about plants. So I'm guessing it would be a nice change of pace for you," she coaxed.

"Can't argue there I guess," he sighed.

He seemed to give a thoughtful silence."I might know a place that's safe enough to go rooting around later. But it's a bit of a run."

"That's fine," she answered contentedly. "Just remember no more dropping us off cliffs. Okay?"

She thought she heard him quietly chuckle from behind the cover of his tree but it was hard to be sure. "Don't worry, no cliffs," he promised with a bemused voice. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the tree. Now she was certain he'd just been laughing. Hopefully, it wasn't because he was plotting against her as they spoke.

"...Good," she sighed before turning away from the trees intent on finishing her bath. The girl briefly dunked her head under the water and came up again with a gasp for air pushing her mess of wet hair from her eyes and reaching blindly over the edge of the spring in her basket on the edge of the rocks for her soap.

(-)

Inuyasha sat just beyond the tree line listening intently to The miko as she moved in the water. But what he was waiting for wasn't a bath.

Every time he heard Kagome dig around in her basket for something he tensed expectantly tilting his head to the side and focusing his ears on her spot in the water analyzing every sigh and every breath for some sign of surprise.

But so far, every time she reached into the basket He'd been disappointed when she had found what she'd been looking for and nothing else.

This time was no different. After the sound of items being moved aside and the tiny crackles of the basket itself being stretched was a sound of satisfaction, a little splashing and the smell of soap.

He exhaled leaning back against the tree, feeling both relieved and disappointed.

It felt a little cowardly to leave the hairpin in a basket for her to find. But all through lunch he'd agonized over what he would say when he gave it to her and well... What the hell were you supposed to say in that situation?

His ears wilted a little and he sighed shifting anxiously.. 'Damn it I should have thought of that before I bought the damn thing.' He thought sourly,

'I didn't want to hang onto it for too long or it would be all the more awkward to give to her later... I just wanted it to stand out from the other stuff. I guess I could have put it off until after dinner...'

But in the end, he couldn't trust himself to follow through once he was face to face with the girl. He if didn't know what to say to her about the gift NOW then he doubted he would know what to say to her by this evening. At least this way he wouldn't be able to chicken out at the last second again.

'How will she react when she does find it?' he wondered for the twentieth time in the last half hour. But every time he tried to picture it he got something different.

This time, Inuyasha imagined her coming out of her bath in her fresh new kimono wearing the pin in her hair beaming at him ecstatically.

'Oh thank you Inuyasha! I love it!'

He doubted and tried the scenario again. This time, he saw Kagome in his mind's eye coming out of the bath holding the pin towards him apologetically.

'I'm sorry Inuyasha... I really can't accept this. It isn't proper...'

He tensed and fidgeted with the desire to steal the hairpin back from her basket without her noticing. Most likely an impossible feat even for him, as he strongly suspected that Kagome could sense his aura more clearly than she let on. After a moment or two of listening to her move in the water, he released a sigh and let himself relax.

It was too late to take it back now. All he could do now was wait and hope for the best.

(-)

Still half-submerged in the water, Kagome dried her hair with her towel the best she could and carefully brushed it out. Then she braided it loosely to the side tying off the end with a scrap of blue silk. Kagome almost never wore her hair in a braid, but She'd always loved the way her hair would go wavy and curl a little at the ends when she let it dry that way And some part of her wondered what Inuyasha would think of the change.

Finished with her hair, she then reached for her towel and stood to climb out of the bath drying herself as she went.

Kagome finished and traded her towel for the kisode she had worn earlier. Picking it up from its spot by her other possessions and putting it back on. Then she leaned down and started to pull her new kimono from the basket, But to her surprise, something fell out and clinked to the ground in front of her.

Kagome paused and looked down to see what she had dropped. What she found was a hairpin. It had a rose made of sapphires with silver leaves framing it. Tiny Pearls sat on the leaves and hung from tiny delicate chains from the edge of one leaf like drops of dew.

The girl blinked and after a moment of surprise she slowly leaned over and picked up the little trinket, turning it over in her hands carefully. It was a surprisingly intricate piece of jewelry. Someone had obviously put a lot of effort into the design of the leaves to make them look realistic, and each petal held a high quality bright blue sapphire. It was really very beautiful, but she didn't recognize it from any of the jewelry Back at the cave.

'So... what was it doing in the basket?' She wondered looking up toward the trees uncertainly. 'Did Inuyasha..?'

Kagome frowned thoughtfully and gently placed the hairpin back in her basket to finish dressing. She didn't take her eyes off it as she pulled the kimono into place and tied it closed. As nice as it felt to be properly dressed again, it was hard to focus on anything but the mystery before her.

She tied her new obi, gathered her things, picked back up the hairpin and turned toward the woods.

"I'm done!" Kagome called to the half demon in what she hoped was a composed and unassuming tone. No use overthinking the pin prematurely. For all Kagome knew, she had put it there herself ages ago and forgotten all about it. She doubted it, but...

There was a moment where he did not move. And then very slowly he rose to his feet and turned, stepping through the bushes to go toward her. At first, his eyes stayed fixed on the ground where he was going. But as he came to stand before her he finally looked up at her face and hair then a little more hesitantly over the rest of her body before his eyes settled on the hairpin in her hand and returned to look at her face with a carefully collected expression.

She wasn't sure what to make of his reaction. He seemed almost guarded.

"You... clean up pretty good." He commented neutrally nodding at her clothes.

The girl blushed at the unexpected compliment and smiled a little. "Thank you," She answered before remembering what she'd wanted to ask him. "Ah! but look," She said jogging up to him a little closer holding the pin up for him to see. "I found this in my basket."

His expression remained carefully neutral but he nodded. "Yeah. Do you like it?"

Her blush intensified. "So you... put it there?" She asked meekly.

A somewhat relieved look touched his face. "Yeah, as a surprise," he answered sounding a little less stiff.

He saw her hand tighten around the offering and then she brought the rose up to her chest and looked down at it. She suddenly looked shy. He took the gesture as a good omen.

"So, do you like it?" He repeated drawing a little closer and tilting his head as if to try and see under her bangs better.

"Yeah... I do." Kagome murmured running her fingers over the sapphires and silver leaves reverently before looking up to smile at him. "It's beautiful Inuyasha, Thank you."

His shoulders quickly relaxed and he smiled down at her in a way she'd never seen him smile before. His golden eyes seemed to glow. The half- demon's happy, peaceful expression caught her completely off guard.

Then He reached to the hand that held the rose pin plucking it from her fingers. She made a sound of protest and grabbed for it but in a fluid motion far too quick for her clumsy hands to manage, he brought it up and tucked it carefully into her braid by her right ear. She stopped and stared up at him with a soft look of wonder as he leaned back to examine his placement. "Looks good on you." He murmured smiling in satisfaction.

His claws trailed down the length of her braid as he pulled away from her.

But before he could finish his first step away, Kagome took a quick step forward grabbing onto his arm tight and balancing on the tips of her toes. Then to his utter amazement, She closed her eyes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek just above the jaw. He froze in place, just barely registering the softness and warmth of her lips against his skin before she pulled away still holding onto his arm to take in his bewildered expression.

Her eyes sparkled up at him. "Thank you, Inuyasha. I'll take good care of it," She promised sincerely.

The poor half demon stumbled back a step as if catching his balance and just blinked at her in surprise. She smiled at him still wider amused to no end by his reaction. But Inuyasha realizing how surprised and embarrassed he must look at that moment whipped his face away toward the trees in a huff.

"I... It was just somethin I saw on the way outta town! No need to get all mushy on me." He defended gruffly.

"It was still very sweet of you." She answered releasing his sleeve and trying hard to hold back a giggle at his obvious embarrassment. He struggled to find something else to say but Kagome had mercy on him and distracted them both by digging through the basket and pulling out one of the towels she had hemmed recently.

"Here, it's your turn in the bath," She said cheerfully. "This is for you."

He awkwardly accepted the neatly folded bundle sniffing at the cloth curiously.

"And the soap and the brush." She said pulling the items from her basket as well and offering them to him. He accepted these a little more hesitantly but with a good amount of grace and no small amount of relief in the knowledge that he had successfully ridden himself of the hairpin without things backfiring horribly.

"Might as well just give me the whole basket." He teased taking the items and piling them on the towel in the crook of his arm.

"Only if you want to finish the sewing project I brought." She grinned back.

"Er, No thanks. I'd just make a mess of whatever you're working on."

The girl giggled.

"Just wait behind the trees okay?" He told her a little more seriously. "Don't go far. I checked out the area, but you never know."

"Don't worry I'll stay close."

He nodded and headed toward the bath while she found her way behind the trees. Just before the switch was complete both of them thought to look back one more time and their eyes met. There was a moment of surprise, blushes on both sides and then a little timidly they both looked away and walked on.

(-)

Inuyasha found the spot in the water where he had sat with Kagome while she'd tended him and laid back his head against the rock with a relieved sigh. It felt like a weight much heavier than a hairpin had finally been lifted from his shoulders.

And there was the bonus satisfaction of seeing Kagome look so altered by her bath and in her new clothes. It was surprising just how much altered she was from the bedraggled girl he had first taken home.

Inuyasha thought back to the first time he had met Kagome. The way she had slowly looked up at him in the rain from her hands and knees unable to go forward even one more step. The look of heartbroken pleading on her tired face. her clothes were in tatters her hair was a mess. The girl he had met that night had been hurt and weak and filthy. and now...

He pictured her just after her bath. Her pretty blue eyes sparkling up at him happily looking the very picture of health and beauty.

If he'd stood the dirty runaway girl he'd met that night alongside the clean delicate little thing he had just encountered he would have never in a million years thought they were the same person without his nose.

It felt satisfying to know he had made all the difference between the two. But seeing her wear the hairpin undeniably completed the picture.

It flattered something possessive in him, Something that saw Kagome wearing a gift from him so openly as a sign of belonging to him. As things were, the fantasy wasn't entirely misplaced. Inuyasha had no doubt in his head that any human from the market town who saw the pin on her and recognized it (and many probably would) would call her 'the half-breed's wife.'

The merchant who'd sold it to him had made damn sure of that.

(-)

A silver hairpin with pearls and sapphires in the shape of a strange flower glinted from the corner of his eye on a jewelers cart and Inuyasha stopped to look. Without even thinking about why he pictured the white of the pearls against the pure black of her hair, Compared the sapphires to her eyes, And made a decision.

As he approached the stand his eyes stayed fixed on the sapphire hairpin. The old gray-haired man at the cart watched his approach with uncertainty.

When Inuyasha stopped about a foot away from the countertop the man went stiff and shot him a contemptuous glare. Inuyasha caught the look and rose up his head a little to let the man get a good look at his eyes. Sometimes just that was enough to quell even a particularly stubborn human. This time, it wasn't.

"How much for that one?" Inuyasha asked calmly in a bored tone nodding toward the sapphire flower.

"Not for sale to your kind beast!" The old man snapped loudly.

When Inuyasha did not immediately react except to give the man a calculating look, he took a walking stick from behind the counter and waved it menacingly in the half demon's direction just short of hitting him."Begone demon!" the old human demanded with all the blind recklessness of one who has already lived many years and expects for his luck to hold him for many years more.

The people around all stopped what they were doing and seemed to go silent.

Inuyasha stood there unfazed thinking of his next move carefully.

He wasn't entirely shocked by the refusal really. In Inuyasha's experience, the first time bartering with a new merchant was a lot like picking up a big rock. Most of the time there was nothing there but a worm or a toad, but sometimes you found snakes.

Inuyasha sighed inaudibly. At least this was the last stop for the day.

How this old geezer expected a demon to react to such a pitiful challenge he wasn't sure, but it seemed like he expected him to run off ashamed of himself. The notion annoyed him.

"I'll leave when I'm done old man and not before," Inuyasha replied as calmly as he could. "So I suggest you cut the crap and answer me."

The old merchant bristled in indignation at the half demon's tone.

"I will not see my work on a demon's whore!" He seethed self-righteously. then he took another swing with his walking stick over the top of his counter aiming for the demon's head. This time, Inuyasha caught the stick and snapped it like a twig. There was a murmur from the crowd behind him and the man let go to stagger back a bit.

Inuyasha's eyes had sharpened at the insult, so much so that even the headstrong and foolish old man seemed to finally falter in his courage. He pulled back his arm entirely to his side with a twinge of fear in his face. Inuyasha tossed the walking stick aside.

The two of them stood in silence for a second. Then to the gasps of the humans who had gathered around, And without looking away from the old man Inuyasha took hold of the jeweler's cart and lifted it quite effortlessly over his head with one arm knocking all the jewelry and the money tin to the ground with a crash. Now the old fool was left with nothing between himself and an obviously irate demon.

At the show of strength and without the flimsy barrier of his countertop or his walking stick to protect him the human lost all courage. But he didn't seem to know what to do anymore. His body was tensed to run, but His withered hands were half stretched toward the stand Inuyasha held well out of reach. His eyes were fixed on the half demon's face in dread.

The merchant's valuables scattered across the ground, coins rolling in every direction and jewelry bouncing against people's feet. But No one dared to try and steal the jeweler's wares or his profits with a demon so close and so clearly angered.

They just watched. Their whispers too quiet for even Inuyasha's sharp ears to make out clearly. They seemed to fully expect for him to destroy the man's cart like he had done to so many others in the past. Some even expected him to kill the old fool.

"I'll give you two choices." Inuyasha offered coldly. "You can take back what you just said and do business with me. Or you can have your stand smashed to bits and your arms broken. Choose."

"I-I" The man stuttered quietly with an ever increasing look of horror.

"You what?" Inuyasha snarled dangerously giving the cart a small toss and easily catching it again. Dirt and bits of wood fell from the bottom and entire structure gave a groan under the stress.

The old man's eyes grew huge and he dropped to his knees. "I apologize for my disrespect to your wife! Please just take the pin! I-It's yours!"

Inuyasha snorted and begrudgingly lowered the stand back between the two of them with a loud thud. With that, Inuyasha took a moment to scan the ground and quickly found and retrieved the pin from several feet away. As he picked it up and examined it for damage, he noticed that half the village was circled around watching them and decided it was time to go. He started to walk away, the crowd quickly parting to give him plenty of space. But as a final thought, he briefly paused to fish one of his gems from the bag and tossed it over his shoulder toward the jewelry merchant's stand without so much as a backward glance.

"Let it never be said that I'm a thief at least." He grumbled to himself in mild annoyance as he stalked back toward the forest.

(-)

Inuyasha watched the trees around him sway with the breeze as he sat in the water thinking.

Honestly, he couldn't have cared less about the jewelry merchant's reaction. The main attraction to buying the thing was that he'd wanted to give Kagome a gift that hadn't come from his treasure trove. And he could only do that if he bought the gift from humans. So even if he had to get yelled at by some old fool at the market and been forced to use threats, anything was better than only being able to give Kagome something he had found on a corpse.

Overall he was satisfied that he had accomplished that goal.

But now he knew full well that the pin would mark her as his 'wife' amongst the nearby villagers. He hadn't really thought of it that way until he had seen it on her just now, but it didn't matter much. If he had anything to do with it Kagome would stay safely tucked away in the woods far away from any human eyes and ears. It was just... a part of him couldn't help but take some small amount of pride in the idea that at least to the human's minds the hairpin marked her as his wife.

In some ways, she WAS his. If only his to protect. Gods knew she needed someone to take care of her. How much longer she could have really managed out there alone with wild animals, bandits, and demons roaming around? And even if she made it through summer without a shelter , clothes, or a stable source of food and water she would have died for sure in the cold winter months.

After a few minutes of soaking, his right hand lifted from the water. Slowly almost hesitantly he pressed his fingers against the spot where she had kissed him.

It had been an innocent kiss. Sweet and gentle and fleeting. Far too fleeting, Inuyasha found with some dissatisfaction. But at least for once in his life things finally seemed to be going his way.

An ear flicked backward toward Kagome just as she started to hum to herself while she worked. He gave a grin at nothing in particular and leaned back against the warm rock to close his eyes and relax while he could. After all, once he got out they had herbs to hunt apparently.

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Authors note

9/29/16

I thought this would be an easy chapter when I started it but as things started rolling I found more and more that it needed a little extra TLC than originally expected.

As always, I love hearing your thoughts on the chapter in your reviews. Whenever I read a good one it instantly puts me in the writing mood. The reviews from the last chapter really helped push me through this one. Without them, I would have definitely taken way longer. But even if you don't review thanks for reading! I'm having a lot of fun with this story and hope to have the next chapter done a lot faster than this one.

~Gypsyn