Fluff Prompt 38. "You may be a jerk, but you're my jerk."

It had been the longest quiet streak they'd ever experienced. Six months since Kagome came back. Six months since they'd been married hastily, not wanting to wait any longer. Six months without any sort of argument.

Until today.

Kagome woke up grumpy, having been out late attending to a birth with Kaede. She refused to sleep in like Inuyasha suggested, insisting she had "too much to do".

What, exactly, she had to do that couldn't be pushed to the afternoon (or even the next day) was unclear. Kagome did not appreciate his insistence that she go back to bed, shooting him the dirtiest glare he could remember receiving from her.

"Well, make some rice if you're not going to go back to sleep."

Kagome shot him another look, this one so venomous that Inuyasha felt a small prickle of fear. He decided it would be in his best interest to take care of putting the bedding away while Kagome prepared breakfast.

Inuyasha's third mistake came quickly.

"You should take the rice off the heat sooner so it doesn't get so crunchy next time," he mused through a mouthful of breakfast.

The small hut went silent, save for the sound of his own chewing. He heard Kagome take a deep breath and prepared himself for what was to come.

"That is IT! Why is this so DIFFICULT for you?"

"WHAT'S SO DIFFICULT FOR ME?" He couldn't help but escalate in response.

"BEING NICE TO YOUR WIFE!" Kagome shouted, standing up and walking toward their makeshift kitchen. She slammed her bowl into the basin they used for washing dishes, breathing heavily.

Inuyasha may not have been married for long, but he knew by now when leaving the house was in his best interest, so he slipped out the door to go work on finishing their permanent home.

He hadn't started building right away, wanting to wait a couple of months for the weather to warm up before beginning to build their home (and, if he was perfectly honest with himself, wanting a couple months of quiet time to just be together). And then once he'd started building, he kept getting ideas, so he just kept adding, and adding, and adding… and now it was four months later and they were still living in the small, previously-vacant hut in the middle of the village.

He didn't like it. It was too close to everyone and it was never quiet enough.

Driven by his distaste for living in the middle of the village and equally driven by his distaste for asking for help, Inuyasha had spent the bulk of the past four months working on his own. Progress was slow-going, and the days were long - most days he left the hut before dawn and came home after dusk.

He didn't like it. Kagome probably didn't either.

Oh.

Ignoring the fact that taking the day off would put him even further behind schedule, Inuyasha turned around and sprinted home. He braced himself as he arrived at the hut, unsure of what he would find inside.

He was relieved to find that Kagome had pulled their bedding out again and was dozing lightly. He did his best not to wake her as he slid under the light blanket next to her. She stirred, not having achieved deep sleep in the short time since Inuyasha had left.

"Oh… you're back," she whispered.

"Don't sound so disappointed," Inuyasha teased.

Silence.

Ah, fuck.

"I'm sorry," he continued, trying to salvage the moment. "I'm a jerk. I should've asked for help with the house so this didn't drag out so long. I'm going to talk to Miroku so we can finally end this."

"You may be a jerk, but you're my jerk," Kagome smiled as she snuggled into his chest. "I'm sorry I was so grumpy earlier. I'm glad you came back."

Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her and smiled. He'd definitely need to talk to Miroku in order to get a work party together, but he decided that could be pushed to tomorrow. He and Kagome needed a day off first.