I am SOOOO sorry for the long wait on this one. I got sick last week, which kept me in bed or at the doctor's office most of last week. Then I had trouble figuring out just what direction to take this in, as I wanted to explore more Inu/Kag romance than I originally planned.

But, at last, here we are. I hope it is to your liking :-)

Chapter Twenty-Five: It Had to Happen Eventually

"You could just take it, you know."

Sesshoumaru's gaze shifted toward the old demon tinkering with his fireplace. "Yes, and I could slit Inuyasha's throat, as well."

"So why don't you?"

"He is one of us," the demon lord answered quietly.

The old man stood up from his task, having dumped a bag of green ash onto the pile of logs before him, and regarded the inuyoukai with skeptical eyes. "He is hanyou; half-human scum who would protect a damned miko rather than defend his family's honor."

"That miko is his family," Sesshoumaru disagreed. "She is not aware of it, but the claim stands. It was my mistake. I should have helped him when I had the chance, instead of allowing him to fall into the company of humans. They corrupted him. With my help he could have attained full demon strength."

"Is that what you plan to do, Sesshoumaru? Turn the filthy whelp into an ally?"

Sesshoumaru lifted an eyebrow at the old man's familiar form of address. He was one of the few allowed the privilege, and only because he was such an old and respected friend of the dog demon pack. "No. I'd be a fool to believe I could change the actions of another. Men are driven by fate as much as free will, and free will is determined by the soul."

"So..."

"The Shikon-no-Tama's power will help you to send me in the past; once the portal is opened, I will take the jewel with me."

"You seek to enhance your own strength."

"Of course."

"It would be easier to begin developing weaponry."

With a snort, Sesshoumaru turned away from his guest and took up an old journal from his desk. "The sacred jewel is the only weapon I need."

"How is that any different from the guns and atomic bombs the humans use?"

"It's completely different!" the inuyoukai snapped in an uncharacteristic moment of emotion. "The Shikon-no-tama does not do the killing itself, it merely focuses preexisting energies into their purest form. The jewel will tap into the power already contained in my blood, making me invincible."

"Delusions of grandeur," the old demon sighed.

"Mind your words, old man."

"Or what? You'll kill me? Further thin out the ranks of demons in this world? Destroy your chance at redemption?" When the dog demon remained silent, he chuckled and gathered his bag of herbs. "I await the jewel. You may call for me when you have obtained it. For the record, I still believe you would be better off retrieving it yourself. There are many lesser demons that would gladly take it for themselves, in the hopes of becoming taiyoukai in their own clans."

"Your advice is unwarranted."

"Suit yourself." Without a second look back the old demon exited Sesshoumaru's study, shaking his head in defeat.

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Kagome winced as she made her way down the first step of the staircase. After three full days she'd hoped the pain would have subsided enough to walk normally. Apparently she'd thought wrong. If Inuyasha caught her stumbling about like this –

"Kagome!"

Ah, speak of the devil...

"Hi, Inuyasha," she smiled feebly. "I thought you were napping outside?"

"Someone," he glared at her, "was stumbling around the hallway making a lot of noise. Now go back to your room before you rip a stitch!"

She rolled her eyes, sighing, and turned slowly to face him head-on. "I need to go downstairs. Ayumi and Yuka are stopping by to check up on me."

"You're still recovering."

"Which is precisely why they're coming. They were worried about me when I missed school Monday and Tuesday." The hanyou seemed to think this over, giving Kagome a chance to begin her descent once again. She couldn't stop the hiss of breath that escaped between her teeth as the wound throbbed painfully at her side.

"Oi, Kagome, wait." She was determined to get downstairs, and Inuyasha knew better than to argue with her. Still, he wouldn't let her get hurt in the process. Leaning down, he scooped her up into his arms and bounded down the staircase, depositing her on the living room sofa.

"When are they coming?"

"Soon," Kagome answered weakly. She glanced up at her hanyou caretaker and bit her lip. "We really should do something about your ears again."

"My ears? Why?"

"Because I think my friends will be a little disturbed to find a boy with doggie ears lounging around the house."

Inuyasha started at her words. "You... I... I thought I was just going to go outside until they left?"

"Do you want to stay outside?"

"No."

"You live here now, Inuyasha. I'm not going to expect you to go into hiding every time we have a houseguest."

"Oh." That's true, isn't it? I do live here... with Kagome. Inuyasha gazed at the miko with a warm look in his eyes. Then a thought entered his mind, turning the fuzzy happiness in his heart to cold reality. I'm dishonoring her. I should make her my mate properly, or I am bringing shame upon her and her family.

The question, he realized, wasn't if, or when, but how? How do people of Kagome's era form pair bonds? How does a male court a female in this strange world? It was perfectly obvious that the rituals were vastly different from his time, if the abundance of working women and immodest fashions were any indication. He'd consider asking Souta, but the boy still refused to talk to either of them.

The hanyou was dragged rather abruptly from his thoughts by the chiming of the doorbell. Kagome groaned, throwing her legs over the couch to get the door. With Inuyasha at her heels, she hobbled into the entryway grabbing a cap along the way. "Here, put this on for now. We'll have to figure out something else later."

"Okay."

As soon as his ears were covered, Kagome took a deep breath and opened the front door.

"Kagome-chan!"

"Kagome-chan!"

"Higurashi!"

Kagome blinked. "Ano... um... hi everyone." She stepped aside to let her friends in, shooting a worried glance toward Inuyasha who was already glaring daggers at the male intruder.

"I, um, though it was just going to be Ayumi and Yuka. Speaking of which, where is Yuka?"

"Right here!" The young woman slipped through the front door as Kagome was about to close it, handing the miko a small bouquet of daisies. "I got flower buying duty, they're from all of us. How are you feeling, Kagome-chan?"

"Better, I guess."

Ayumi turned concern-filled eyes on her dear friend, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "We were so worried that maybe your cancer came back."

"Or the arthritis," Eri chirped.

Hojo blushed a bit, sticking out a hand to offer Kagome his latest get-well gift.

"Oh... that's... very..."

"It's garlic tea. Very effective on colds."

"Thanks, Hojo-kun." Kagome smiled weakly, quickly dropping the gift onto a table beside the coat rack. "Why don't we go into the living room?"

The small group headed further into the house, trailed by a pouting hanyou. It wasn't until everyone had settled into their seats that anyone took note of the white-haired enigma amongst them.

"Oh, you're... Inuyasha, right?"

"Aa," he answered Yuka, his eyes only briefly acknowledging the girl before turning back to keep watch over Hojo. Oblivious to his annoyance, the girl continued talking. "It's been months since we met you that last time. Hojo, have you met Inuyasha before?"

"No, don't believe I have," he answered amiably, standing up to bow to the hanyou. "Inuyasha? That's certainly an unusual name."

The hanyou grunted, earning a glare from Kagome. "Behave," her eyes seemed to scold him. With an angry huff, he crouched down to the floor between Hojo and his woman, creating an effective barrier.

"Inuyasha is Kagome's boyf—"

Eri and Yuka tackled Ayumi to the couch, covering her mouth with their hands. "Friend of the family, right Kagome-chan?"

"In a manner of speaking," she answered, feeling a moment of panic rising. She had no interest in Hojo, and would gladly introduce Inuyasha as her boyfriend, had the hanyou in question not been sitting right there.

"It's so good of you to come help her out at a time like this," Hojo turned back to the other male, still ignorant of the mortal danger he was in.

For the next fifteen minutes, Inuyasha continued silently glaring at Hojo while he patiently listened to the girls chatter animatedly about the recent events in school, including the graduate's dance of which Eri and Ayumi were coordinators.

"You really should join the committee when you get better," Ayumi enthused. "It's so much fun and you get to help decide on the food, color scheme, music –"

"And even the location," Eri chimed in. "Our budget is high enough that we were thinking of having it outdoors at the botanical gardens."

"That sounds beautiful," Kagome sighed, a wistful smile on her face. If only I could solve this problem with Sesshoumaru and the Shikon-no-Tama, I might be able to attend the dance...

"Who do you think you're going to go with, Kagome-chan?"

"Yuka-chan, the dance is still four months away!"

"So? Most of the other girls are already planning for limousines with their boyfriends."

"Hojo-kun, maybe you should take Kagome-chan!"

Kagome gulped, and prayed that no one else heard the loud growl emanating from Inuyasha's position. Before the hapless young man could respond, Inuyasha ground out his own opinion.

"I'm taking her," the hanyou answered firmly.

"You're still going to be here in the Spring?"

"I live here now."

The girls glanced at each other, wearing expressions of shock, surprise and, in Ayumi's case, sheer joy. "Wow," the latter girl exclaimed, "so are you guys getting married?"

Kagome's eyes widened, and she began sputtering. "M-married? No, of course n—"

"Yes."

Inuyasha sat back, his arms folded smugly across his chest as he watched the human male to his right blanch.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome jumped up from her place on the couch, an angry flush spreading over her cheeks. "Can I see you in the kitchen for a moment?" Without waiting for a response, she grabbed at his haori, dragging him with surprising strength behind her.

Once inside the kitchen, she released Inuyasha and turned a heated glare on him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The hanyou frowned, adjusting his mistreated coat. "Me? Since when do you call me a family friend? And in front of that idiot boy out there! He keeps looking at you and I don't like it."

"Do you have any idea what you just said out there? You told my friends that we were getting married! That's like... that's... I don't even know where to start!"

"What's married?"

"ARGH!" Kagome threw her hands up in frustration, accidentally knocking Inuyasha's cap off in the process.

"Kagome-chan, may I use –"

Kagome froze at the sound of Ayumi's voice, dropping the cap she'd bent down to retrieve. A river of ice trailed through her skin, and she could hear the beat of her heart as though it were the only sound in the room.

"Kagome...?" The girl seemed to recover faster than the miko, taking a hesitant step toward the arguing pair. "What... who...?"

Gathering her wits, Kagome rushed to close the kitchen door, leaning against it with a heaving sigh. "Okay, first off, don't scream."

Ayumi nodded hesitantly, her gaze darting between her best friend and the man in her kitchen with dog-ears. She bit her lip in the effort to avoid making a sound.

"Here, Inuyasha," Kagome handed him the cap, which he quickly replaced. "This is... a long story, Ayumi-chan. I'll tell you as much as I can, but I have to ask you to promise to keep my secret. Can you do that?"

"H-hai," she stammered, trying to cast a surreptitious look at Inuyasha.

"All right. Let me get rid of everyone else and I'll explain."

Ayumi took a seat at the kitchen table, watching as Kagome and Inuyasha exited the kitchen. Minutes later she heard the sounds of her friends bidding each other farewell, and clenched nervously at a nearby napkin. At last, the kitchen door slid open and Kagome returned, Inuyasha walking up behind her.

The miko sighed, and took up a seat before her shaking friend. "Where do I begin...?"