Chapter 14- Here a Spat, There a Spat

"Ayame, would you stop followin' me?!"

"Inuyasha, stop trying to pick a fight with everyone! Kenshin, stop wandering off!"

"Hentai!"

The various arguments throughout the day never ceased. Kouga would fuss at Ayame for being so clingy, Kenshin would wander too far from camp and scare the heck out of Kagome, Inuyasha kept picking fights with both Kouga and Sesshoumaru and Miroku was having one of his more lecherous days. Really, the only ones who stayed out of the spats were Rin, Shippou and Kirara; everyone else was having a very bad day.

With a final 'sit', Inuyasha leapt off into the woods, and Kagome decided after a minute that she needed to go after him, and thus left Kenshin in dear Uncle Fluffy's care. Sango stormed off, and after a little bit of encouragement from Ayame, Miroku went to apologize, leaving a confused inu tai-youkai, a volatile tai-okami and a beautiful she-wolf to their own devices.

Thus began the interesting endings to their day.

/With Inuyasha and Kagome/

Inuyasha sank into the hot-spring in relief, though he still murmured dark curses under his breath at his mate for not one, not even two, but three sits in a single morning. Two for picking a fight with Kouga and one for picking a fight with his brother. His muscles felt like if they tried to relax, they'd curl around themselves and he'd never be able to undo the knots. He rubbed his back against a boulder, hoping to relieve some of the tension.

"Inuyasha?"

He startled when he heard Kagome's voice from directly behind him. She gently dropped her backpack onto the ground and shed her socks and shoes, dipping her feet gingerly into the pool next to him. The heat from the spring was going to be his excuse for the blush that held possession of his face if she chose to ask. Why should he be nervous about her seeing him? They were mates, for kami's sake! But… wait, no buts! She swirled her feet slightly in the warm liquid for a bit.

"Gomen ne, Inuyasha-koishii. I shouldn'tve sat you so many times," she murmured distantly. What could he say? A soft, sweet apology, calling him her beloved in such a tender way… he couldn't bear to break the moment. Such beauteous time alone with each other was a wonderful rarity. He looked up at her saddened face for a moment, trying to decide on a course of action, but ended up only doing what first came to mind.

Placing his hands on the bank, he pushed himself up next to her, much to her surprise. He drew her to him, hugging her close for just a minute. What else could he do? Words weren't his department, so this had to do until he could figure out some way to fix that malady. She massaged the back of his neck gently, and the soft touch seemed to make the tension there disappear without a trace. Inuyasha pressed a soft kiss on her neck over the mark and, had she been able to see, there was a sudden, playful twinkle in his eye.

"It's a good thing you brought that bottomless yellow bag of yours."

And with that, he leaned back and fell into the hot spring, dragging Kagome with him!

She breached the surface, coughing and gasping for air. When she finally turned to look at her mate, he had a teasing, playful glimmer in his eye. He approached her slowly, and the strange look in his sun fire orbs sent a tingling sensation through her body. She pressed herself back against the rock behind her, unsure of what the half-dog was thinking. He drew closer, and pressed a taunting kiss on her shoulder, shoving her top layers away. She let her mind think coherently for only a minute more, before she succumbed to his seductive kisses, and allowed herself to enjoy his touch for the short while that they had.

/With Sango and Miroku/

He watched the volatile taijiya from a safe distance, waiting for her to calm down a bit. Talking to an angry Sango meant death. For him, it probably meant death rotisserie style. Not exactly the most pleasant thought, now is it? She finally took a deep breath to begin calming herself down, and he took it as the perfect time to apologize. Walking out from his hiding place in the brush, he moved into the clearing with her.

"What do you want?" she snapped, clearly not as calm as he'd hoped she'd be. He grinned nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Well… I, uh… thought I might need to come and apologize to you," he said uneasily. She was clearly skeptical. Since when did Houshi-sama actually apologize for his habits? The majority of the time he was making excuses. This could only end badly. "It really was an accident that time!"

She sweatdropped. Looks like she spoke too soon; that was the excuse she had been waiting for in the first place. She gave a frustrated sigh and turned to stomp away, but was quickly stopped when an arm clasped around her waist and drew her next to a solid body. Warm breath ghosted her ear when next he spoke to her.

"This was what I had intended."

She felt like her breathing had stopped. In… intended? So that's why he'd waited until they were alone… he'd had an ulterior motive that wasn't carried out. Now that she thought about it, she'd shifted just before he touched her… her reaction time had been faster than usual…

Headache.

A new sensation.

Miroku placed a light kiss on her neck, wrapping his other arm around her waist. He was being… so careful… so gentle… like she might break if he let her completely understand how much he loved and wanted her… it was such a novelty that she wanted to just melt in his arms, laugh with joy and cry for the same reason. It was such a wonderful feeling…

He murmured her name, and the sound was so perfect that she wondered why she'd never noticed how right it was. She had been fighting her emotions for so long… had she fought them so well as to be oblivious to his true tokens of love? Sango knew it had to be so; how else could she have missed it? She pulled away just a tiny bit, and turned to look at his face. The most sincere, most loving, most apologetic look she had ever seen rested there, and she knew it was only for her. He really hadn't meant it that time, and he really did love her. She felt a soft smile creep onto her features of its own volition, and her heart fluttered one more time as his lips, at long last, caressed hers.

/With Sessy, Ayame and Kouga/

Ayame perched on a rock, and her glance wandered back and forth between her two silent companions. It seemed that even the birds were afraid to break the tension, for nothing broke up the monotonous silence but their own heartbeats and breathing. She didn't mind; at least Kouga and Sesshoumaru weren't fighting. If they had been, she would've more than likely been the next one to storm away from camp, leaving a record 3-0 for the group's women. Rin, Shippou, Kenshin and Kirara had gone hunting for edibles and medicinal herbs after only five minutes of the oppressive silence.

Kouga… he's brash and a little slow upstairs, but he's handsome and loyal to the end, and as strong as any sane woman could ever want. But… Sesshoumaru… Her thoughts wandered to the dog-lord, shifting so subtly that she didn't even take notice. Her eyes roved over his porcelain skin, perfect without even hints of scarring. His white robes seemed unblemished from his travels. She had long noticed his missing arm, but she was quite oblivious as to why it wasn't attached as it was supposed to be. He's strong, too… I can just feel it. The powers that his swords emit are amazing in their intensity. And… he's awe-inspiring… the way he looks… but he's so cold! I wonder why? Could it have something to do with Inuyasha…?

Unknown to her, and much less obvious than her interest in him, Sesshoumaru was contemplating her, as well. His golden eyes were hidden beneath heavy lids and thick lashes as he struggled to gain some semblance of self-control, but his emotions that he had thought gone forever were in a flurry and unable to be tamed, so it seemed. Ideas about her scent and features of the romantic sort kept popping into his head at random moments, and every time he thought he'd finally put a lid on the proverbial Pandora's box, it seemed that one simple slip would open it up all over again. The internal battle was ever-raging, and the storm didn't appear to be calming any time soon.

And, like Sesshoumaru, Kouga's thoughts, too, centered around the flame-haired she-wolf and how she kept showing so much interest in the cold elder brother of his only competition for the beauteous Kagome. Why did he keep having the urge to yell for her to stop looking at the man? He didn't have feelings for her last he checked. Then again, when was the last time he checked…?

He gave a mental shake of the head. That mutt-face was messing with his head. Something he did had to be messing with his mind. He couldn't be falling for Ayame… could he?

Sesshoumaru had a sudden thought leap to mind, but he squelched it quickly. He… he couldn't actually be falling in love with that wolf-princess, could he?

Ayame groaned and her head dropped. Was she even going to make up her mind?!

AN: OKAY! Just so everyone knows, this is a repost of a story I finished like... four years ago. My writing style has changed much since then, so please read something that isn't a repost before you worry about me! For those of you who are ready to kill me in a classic mob hit, BEFORE YOU BREAK OUT THE CONCRETE SHOES, I'm planning on posting ALL THE REST OF MY REPOSTS before the end of NOVEMBER. I have an SAT to kill off tomorrow, but after that I'm a total himajin. Yeah, ignore the Japanese; it's habit by now.

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