Inuyasha wasn't really a show off by nature. Really, he wasn't. He was— well, not perfectly adjusted, but he did pretty well. Sure, he had a bastard for an older brother, and maybe he liked to hit things, and he tended to be grumpy and when he was grumpy, he hit things— but really. And then, when his bastard of a brother left to tend to his chunk of the kingdom, Inuyasha tended to be less grumpy. And when his father decided to let Inuyasha patrol the land with him, the grumpiness factor shot way down (the castle staff breathed a collective sigh of relief).

And then Inuyasha got Tetsusaiga. Sure, the sword actually came from his father, but when Inuyasha got his claws in it, he never let go. It was his baby. It was über-kick-ass-y, as he liked to say, but his adoration went beyond that. Not only was it macho, it was a shining emblem that he was not a scruffy half-breed that deserved no love, but that he was a man— a tall, proud man— in his father's eyes. And that was all that mattered.

So, Inuyasha really didn't mind showing off. Only every now and then, of course.

His lips curled up in a vicious smile as he envisioned the scar in the youki that circled the grounds and tightened his grip on his sword. He loved this— the feel of the leather between his palms, the slight tightening noise when he clenched his fists, the flexing of his muscles as he lifted the Great Sword above his head, the mighty gust of wind that blew his hair back, and of course, his savage war cry—

"KAAAZE NOOOO KIZUUUU!"

Inuyasha watched in delighted satisfaction as blinding gold lightning bolts raced across the ground, cutting, breaking, utterly obliterating everything in their path. They broke the ground savagely, gouging long furrows in their wake. He grinned fiercely.

'Oh HELL yeah!'

As the last crack of lightning faded, it revealed a madly grinning Kohaku, along with his bride-to-be and her brother, The Brat.

And they just looked like all hell had broken loose.

'Well, it just did, in a sense…'

The Brat quickly regained movement and clambered over the fence, practically cackling with glee. Kohaku, having lived at the palace most of his life but only having seen Inuyasha in action a few times, scaled the fence as well. And so the gushing began.

"That was AWESOME! It was so…wow, I mean, didja see how those spiky thingies just—"

"I KNOW! Wasn't it great? Those-"

"Do they always do that? Man, you just swing—" Souta made a wild swinging motion with his arms, nearly knocking himself over, but went on anyway—"and kerlperggh!" He once again made a wild motion with his arms, swinging them riotously like pinwheels, only this time he fell onto his behind. "Everyone's history! Dead! Dude, if I had a sword like that- I'd kick butt! They'd never make me to sit through another one of Gramp's lessons again!"

Kohaku cackled, and Souta nearly fell into a ditch that Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu had made. The elder boy smirked, sliding Tetsusaiga into its sheath.

'Idiots,' he scoffed, snorting as he spun around, the act almost instinct. His eyes sought out Kagome. He found her, standing at the fence where he had put the three humans. Her shoulders were stiff and her face ashen. His smirk widened. Miroku, leaning against a post behind him, spoke up.

"You know," he drawled, tracing a line on his staff with an immaculate finger, "Lady Kagome looks very surprised. Well done."

Inuyasha's smirk evaporated. "What the hell do you mean, Monkey Boy?"

Miroku smiled mischievously, eyes glinting. "You're showing off for her, aren't you?"

Inuyasha sputtered. "What the fuck do you—what—what the hell is wrong with you, idiot?"

"Oh, nothing," the man returned, feigning innocence. "It's just that I can smell the testosterone a mile away. And I happen to be a man."

"Not for long you won't," Inuyasha snarled. Miroku held up his hands in a manner of surrender and smiled.

"Peace, my friend. I've no wish to be castrated by you. Rather, I'd like to live a long and happy life—"

If given the chance, Miroku could go on prattling forever in that goddamned 'holy' tone of his, so that passersby swore that they had seen angels singing in the background. So, to avoid unnecessary irritation, and to shut Miroku up, Inuyasha divulged the one thing he knew Miroku had been pondering all morning.

"Sango's in the practice court that's second to the right from the army's barracks."

Miroku stopped, eyes going round. "Oh, so that's where she stormed off to."

He snapped his fingers, and then purposely spun around and headed away, leaving Inuyasha staring after him with an odd mix of pity, admiration and irritation. Miroku was beyond help.

And too blamed perceptive for his own damn good.

Inuyasha glared at the monk's retreating back for a moment, before centering himself and breathing calmingly, and turning to face his bride-to-be. Unbidden but, perhaps not unwanted, her drunken request from the night before sprang to mind, despite his resolve to talk to her- or perhaps because of it. With things flying topsy-turvy around his head, he really didn't know.

And didn't really want to.

So, with an arrogant smirk plastered on his face, he sauntered back to Kagome.

'Demons shouldn't be allowed to be that strong…' Kagome thought blankly as she watched Inuyasha swing his gigantic sword and loose lightning that would tear the world apart. 'And annoying, over-bearing, occasionally sweet idiots like Inuyasha shouldn't be allowed to be so… beautiful… either…'

But it was true. There was a ferocious beauty about Inuyasha as his mouth curled into a fierce smile and his eyes burned liquid, molten gold as he swung his body with grace a tiger would envy and his hair flashed like fluid silver. His was beauty that bespoke eons of fire.

She watched, petrified, as he exchanged brief words with Miroku. His languid stance seemed to stiffen as the monk smirked and said something he thought amusing. As her eyes glanced over the silver-haired boy, though, the wild beauty was still there. Perhaps it was in the way he tossed his head, or the way his fingers flexed, or the way his shoulders were perfectly aligned. And when he turned around, the beauty lingered in his eyes, personified in the fire smoldering in their golden depths.

Kouga had possessed it, she supposed. 'But I was too busy blushing to notice.' Her chest tightened as disgust welled in her mind, as it was prone to do after her disastrous attempt at love. Well, she wouldn't do it now. If there was one lesson she could learn from that fiasco, then it would be to tell the giggly, fluttery part of her mind to shut the hell up and listen to the more sensible one.

The one that often went on extended vacations, it seemed. She inwardly grimaced.

Inuyasha was walking towards her. She stole a glance at him. The magnificence was still there, dusted on his skin, reflected in the light in his eyes, the curve of his mouth, the glimmer of a fanged tooth peeking from under his lip.

"Well?" he queried in a cocky manner, his voice smooth as the finest silks or satins. She gulped, wondering when her throat had decided to become sandpaper. Somehow, she managed to nod like a civilized person.

"It was impressive," she croaked. 'That was stupid! He nearly rips the ground to shreds and that's all you can manage? Get a grip, Kagome!' Had the line of his shoulders sunk a bit, or was it her imagination? Her eyebrows moved closer together. 'Why on earth would he care what I think? Wait… would that mean he cares about…' She viciously stopped the train of thought. It was too dangerous a path to wander.

"Oh," Inuyasha snorted. "Whatever. Look, didn't you want to see the gardens or something?"

Jerked back to reality, Kagome dug in her mind for the memory, and it finally surfaced. "Uh, right! Can we go now?"

He shrugged again, and passed her, as if to show disdain and insensitivity to her request, but in small fragmented pieces, Inuyasha's personality began to surface. She cocked her head to one side as she followed him, considering.

'He's not going to be jumping for joy every time he sees me, and even on the off chance that he does feel anything that's not directly related anger or… well, common dislike in general, then he still isn't going to show it. Not that he ever will, considering. I don't like being forced into it, even though it's supposedly for my own good; though I don't think they were considering my mental health when they conjured this half-baked mess up. Which I helped create, true, but what could his story be? Why were his parents so willing to force him into wedlock?' And something that should have occurred to her eons ago floated to the surface. 'And who's Kikyou?'

While Kagome mused, Inuyasha led her through a twisting maze of workshops. The area behind the palace was a coalesced meshwork of small buildings and with people scurrying along hard, dirt-packed roads that threaded everywhere. The place hummed with life and feverishness, and the tell-tale activity of people with too much to do and not enough time to do it in. The blacksmith pounded away with his mallet; the laundry women rushed in and out of their respective buildings, all with red hands and faces; the stable hands mucked out barns or led horses away, and millions of other things. Kagome marveled at it all, realizing just how far from home she was; her old way of life was slow and easy because of her father's minuscule estate.

Inuyasha seemed completely at home, though. Kagome watched with a little jealousy as he effortlessly maneuvered among the throngs of people and colors, shouting out greetings to obscure figures and waving to those who shouted back. Funnily enough, he seemed more at home roughing it with people who where there to serve him than with his equals in court.

Slowly, though, the noise and clamor subsided little by little as Inuyasha led her away and into more quiet territory. Here, there were small patches of herbs planted in an orderly fashion. They were all in full bloom. Being a closet herbalist herself, Kagome had never seen a garden this vast or filled with life.

"Who does this place belong to?" she questioned, her voice breathy with admiration. If Inuyasha stiffened, she didn't see it.

He turned incompletely, so they were standing side-by-side and pointed one clawed finger to her right to a lonely hut with the door hanging open. An old woman was sitting just outside, sorting herbs on a small white sheet before her into bundles.

"That's Kaede. Herbalist."

"Oh," Kagome said. It was funny how Inuyasha thought that one word could surmise another's entire existence. It was funny how he did it, too.

"If you wanna know more, talk to the old crone later," Inuyasha drawled, "but for now, save it. We gotta get back before my idiot brother decides to show his ugly face."

Kagome's curiosity was sparked. Inuyasha's non-monosyllabic response seemed a good opening as any to interrogate.

"You don't like your brother very much, do you?" she asked airily as they walked, now side by side. She picked a small sunflower from a patch they passed and twirled it in her fingers as she waited for his answer.

"What was your first clue?" he asked sarcastically. She didn't rise to his bait.

"You're dripping condensation. So tell me, why don't you like him?"

She was unusual; he'd give her that much credit. Leave it to his parents to find the quirkiest girl on the face of the earth to make his wife and house. Foregoing the fact that she did not praise his Kaze no Kizu, as she should have done, she wasn't really all that bad. She wasn't a chatterbox, she wasn't a leech, and she smelled good.

'And she's not Kikyou. That's definitely a plus.'

So, when she started to engage him in conversation, it was surprising that he didn't shy away like he usually would have. Her questions were level headed, and it seemed she possessed some sort of wit. On top of it all, she also seemed to be a sort of herbalist. That one required a full blown snort.

"Never really got along." His reply was short and simple, and for some reason, made her smile. She chuckled.

"I figured as much. When's he coming?"

"Later this afternoon," he replied.

"He's married, isn't he?" Her question was innocent and borne of ignorance, but he snorted anyway, and it fazed her.

"What?" she asked, frowning. "It was a simple question."

"You don't get it," he said, smiling. Even he, half-demon scourge of the earth, knew the difference between marriage and taking a mate. "He ain't married- he's mated."

Kagome looked at him strangely. "And?"

Inuyasha chuckled. "Look, it's not hard to understand-"

He stopped.

They had arrived at the gardens, which were simply bunches of flowers. Well, he knew craftsmen had put a lot of work into this place. There were small paved paths stretching to and fro, with wrought iron benches between strategically placed plots of blooming flowers. Small fountains sprang out of the ground, each sporting a unique carving, and in other places, small rivers and pools flowed. It was not Inuyasha's most preferred place, but if Kagome's face was anything to go by, she was in heaven.

Her eyes were bathed in serene light, and her mouth curled up into a calm smile as she inspected her surroundings. He raised an eyebrow. She glanced at him and smiled at his bemused expression.

"What?" she asked again.

"Nothing," he shrugged. "I just expected you to be squealing at the sight by now." He gestured towards the flowers. She shook her head and seated herself on a small bench, patting the place beside her. He crossed his arms resolutely and leaned against a tree. She shrugged, as if to say 'suite yourself'. The corners of Inuyasha's mouth turned down. When he thanked God for sparing him from having a leech for a wife, he didn't necessarily want her to treat him with careless casualness, either…

Lord, he needed help. Lots and lots of it.

"Flowers are nice," she said, "but I like herbs better."

"Some flowers are herbs," Inuyasha said, smirking at the slight flash of surprise in her eyes.

"True," she agreed, "but herbs have healing and aromatic properties that can't be found elsewhere. You know Aloe Vera? It's used to restore broken or burned skin. Daisies can't do that. Neither can roses, for that matter."

He snorted. "Cabinet herbalist, are you?"

She smiled mischievously. "Only if you don't tell anyone."

"Not on your life," he countered. Surprise gnawed at his mind as he realized that he enjoyed thebanter between them.

She sighed. "Leave it to my husband-to-be to soil my good name. So, what were you saying about mates and marriage?"

"Good name?" he asked incredulously. "Woman, after last night, you've got no name."

She flushed. "Well, it wasn't exactly like I was having the best night of my life, you know."

He grinned. When it came to friction, Inuyasha was an addict and expert. "So you went and decided to drown yourself in a goblet. Poor, poor Kagome."

"I'm not proud of it," she said quietly. Her eyes instantly darkened, becoming bruised and forlorn. The quirk of her mouth betrayed how intense her feelings about… whatever it was that had made her get herself drunk… were.

"Some good came out of it though," he said casually, flicking a bit of dirt off of his crimson shirt. Kagome flicked a glance in his direction while a slight smile danced on the corners of her lips.

"What might that be? As far as I can tell, I just made a fine, blotchy mess of myself."

Inuyasha nodded nonchalantly, and remarked, "Yes, you did. A very blotchy mess, and by the way, I don't like picking up after those." At her raised eyebrow, he replied, "I've got Miroku for things like that. Anyway, my father likes you."

Instead of blushing, she grinned good-naturedly. "My mother mentioned it. She said he was glad that I, er- what was it?- oh, yes, that I could 'hold my drink down.' "

Inuyasha's snort was complimented by an elaborate eye-roll. "Oh, yeah. You can definitely do that. How much did you drown anyway?"

"I-" she started, but she never got a chance to finish- because Inuyasha smelled it. It was carried to him by a small breeze that swirled through the gardens and filled his nostrils. A scent so familiar, yet with so many painful memories tacked on to it. A scent that was as icy and frigid as a powerful waterfall in the mountains.

"Bloody fucking hell! Damn, damn, damn!"

"What?" Kagome asked quickly, half-rising from her seat.

Inuyasha whirled on her, a cascade of fire, apprehension and, curiously, fright, filling his eyes. A cry that bordered on hysteria burst from him.

"Sesshoumaru's here!"

And when Kagome burst out laughing, Inuyasha knew, with all the certainty in the world, that he was going absolutely mad.

Author's Notes: Yes, people, I haven't died quite yet. It's been too long, I know, but life got really hectic in the middle there, and I had no time for anything. Well, anyway, this chapter was sitting on my harddrive for a while. I took a really inspiring review from Ame Hirashi Hiwatari to pull me out of my funk. (She's also an awesome beta-reader!) Since it's been so long, I'm not going to do personal replies, but, for those of you who have stuck with this story, I've gotta say that you guys rock. No, really. You do. Stay tuned!

Love ya all lots,

Nooz