Chapter 26: On the Road Again


The late morning sun was warm on the faces of the small group of travellers as they crested the last hill that separated them from the market town. Kagome paused, heart stuttering in her chest, as she took in the sight of Feudal Japan spread out before her like a verdant blanket.

How often over the past three years had she wonder if she would ever get the chance to travel like this with Inuyasha again? Too many to count, surely.

And yet, here she was.

The road they were on was comfortably familiar, one that they had travelled many times during their quest. It had always been the most direct route into and out of Kaede's village, but it now seemed busier than Kagome remembered it being three years ago. Where once they could have walked the entire distance from one village to another without ever passing another soul, now it seemed as though they were nodding their hellos to yet another group of travellers every quarter-hour or so.

"I don't remember this road being so busy before."

At her words, Miroku – who was heading up the group today – turned to look back at her over his shoulder, nodding. "Indeed, Kagome. Since the defeat of Naraku the region has begun to prosper and thrive in earnest. Much has changed since you've been away."

Kagome nodded in response to Moriku's words. He was right; a lot had changed, and yet other things were exactly the same. She smiled to herself as she adjusted the familiar weight of her bow and quiver on her shoulder. It felt good to have them slung securely across her back once more.

When they'd stopped by Kaede's early that morning to pick up Rin and Shippō she'd also retrieved her sacred longbow… and the moment Kagome had touched it, she could have sworn that she'd felt a thrum of spiritual power run through the weapon.

It had felt as though the bow was welcoming her home – that it had actually been happy to see her – and she'd vaguely wondered, and not for the first time, if her longbow knew things in much the same way that Tetsusaiga sometimes did.

Did it know that she felt more confident in her skills now? That she finally felt deserving of having been entrusted with it by the Spirit of Mount Azusa? In her last year of high school, Kagome had competed at the national level in archery, earning several medals including the gold for accuracy with moving targets.

She snuck a glance at her husband-to-be, wondering what his reaction would be to her considerable increase in skill since last he'd seen her fight.

"Pfft," she thought. "That's if he lets me fight! Inuyasha has been on high alert since we left the village!" Her eyes softened as she looked at him again. "Though I can't really blame him for wanting to keep me safe and close. Not anymore."

Inuyasha could feel his mate's eyes upon him, but he kept his eyes trained on the road ahead. He'd chosen to stay close to Kagome, rather than take up his usual place in the lead position, precisely because of the busyness of the road they were on.

His ears swivelled forward once more; he could hear the faint squeak of a cart's wheels. More travellers were headed their way. He sighed before casting his own sidelong glance at the woman walking beside him. He wasn't sure if she'd noticed, but it had quickly become apparent to Inuyasha that the mostly male travellers they continually came across couldn't seem to keep their fucking eyes off of his Kagome.

The rational part of Inuyasha's mind knew that it wasn't every day that peasant farmers and itinerant merchants laid eyes on a woman like Kagome. A woman not wearing a tenugui on her head, not dropping her eyes demurely as they passed. A woman travelling in such odd company, and of such rare beauty.

But the demon in him? The demon in him was seething. How dare they stare so blatantly at what was his. It had drawn growls from him so vicious and deep that the sound had forced the men's eyes off of Kagome and onto him… And the look in their eyes when they realized that he knew – followed closely by the stink of their mortal dread – had been satisfaction enough to keep Inuyasha from tearing off their offending appendages.

Inuyasha smirked momentarily at the memory, but his attention was quickly drawn from his dark satisfaction to the high-pitched whine of an annoyed Kitsune.

"It's no fair! Miroku, Rin's cheating. She's making stuff up!"

"This Rin does not cheat, Shippō! Just because you cannot guess, doesn't mean that it isn't real!"

Until a few moments ago, the youngest two of their group had been happily playing a version of what Kagome had called "20 Questions." Each would take a turn to think up a type of youkai and the other would try to guess which one it was by asking a maximum of twenty questions... Though, apparently, the game had suddenly soured.

"There's no way that you know of more youkai than I do! I am a youkai!"

"That means nothing! Rin is only naming youkai that she has watched her Lord do battle with. Rin can't help it if you don't know as much as she does."

"Why you–!"

"Shippō!" Kagome interrupted. "Apologize to Rin this instant. Just because she stumped you and won doesn't mean that she cheated."

"But Kaaaagooooome…"

"No buts, Shippō."

Shippō grumbled an apology in Rin's general direction before turning to shoot an angry glare at Inuyasha. He mumbled under his breath for only the hanyou to hear. "This is all your fault."

Inuyasha had had enough. The kit had been shooting him glowering looks all morning. He was about to ask the runt where he got off giving him looks like that – and how the hell could this be his fault anyway – but his ears caught the approaching squeak of cart wheels again, closer this time, alerting him to the two men coming into view and guiding an ox between them.

Miroku was the one to step forward, as was his usual way whenever they were travelling. "Greetings, friends. Are you coming from the nearby market?"

The two men – one younger and one older – guided their ox to a stop in front of Miroku, who took the opportunity to look the both of them over, assessing their threat level under his usual guise of jovial curiosity.

The two appeared as though they had been travelling for several days. Their clothes were grubby and there was a sour, unwashed smell that wafted off of their bodies. The elder of the two men was the one to reply. "Hai, Houshi-sama. My son and I have travelled to many market villages in recent weeks and are just now heading home."

As his father spoke, the son's eyes took in each member of the strange group before him: a monk, a young girl, a youkai child, and what he thought was likely the monk's Inugami, judging by the dog ears that sat atop its head. Finally, his gaze settled upon the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He stared at her with a look of riveted astonishment combined with barely disguised lust.

Kagome didn't particularly like the way the younger man was looking at her. She could sense no threat from him and yet he had taken his time trailing his eyes up her body. She felt rather like a piece of meat… or worse. When she shifted her eyes away uncomfortably, the younger man finally spoke.

"My lady, you honour my father and I with the beauty of your presence. And what…unique…company you travel with."

Inuyasha's muscles tensed from the strain it took not to leap forward and claw the eyes out of this insolent man's head. He could feel the unease rolling off of Kagome as she instinctively reached out for him through their bond.

Look his mate up and down in such a blatantly appreciative way, would he?

Make her feel uncomfortable, would he?

The low, demonic growl that erupted from Inuyasha chest then was nothing if not a warning. This bastard would see just how much use he got out of those eyeballs when they were shoved so far up his ass that he was staring at his breakfast.

The growling roused the older man from the shocked silence he'd fallen into at his son's bold words. He bowed deeply and nervously spoke. "P- Please, accept my apology for my son's rudeness. He is young and often on the road with me where he remains too long out of practice in the use of his manners."

The father tried to level his son with a hard glare, but it went unnoticed as the younger man's eyes remained on Kagome, seemingly unaware of the rising volume of Inuyasha's growl.

Miroku worried about the speed at which the situation seemed to be escalating. He cleared his throat in an attempt to diffuse the tension. "Understandable, my friend. I will, of course, accept your apology on behalf of the Lady Miko." He emphasized his last word.

"Miko?" the younger man blinked a bit, seemingly confused by that. The beautiful woman was wearing a lovely green and pink yukata, not the traditional red and white of a holy woman.

Either way, it didn't stop him from continuing to stare hungrily at her.

"Ewwww! What's that smell?" Shippō, who had unabashedly covered his nose with his hand the second the two men arrived, could no longer block out the awful stench when it suddenly morphed into an even stranger smell.

"Shippō!" Kagome gasped in embarrassment at her kit's rudeness. As much as she didn't like the way that man was eyeing her, it was no reason for the boy to be so rude!

But Inuyasha knew what Shippō was suddenly smelling. He hadn't missed the hit of arousal that had begun mixing with the otherwise sour smell of the unwashed younger man.

A red haze began to blur the edges of his vision.

This asshole was crossing a new line and it was enough to turn Inuyasha's growl into a snarl of deadly intent. He moved to stand in front of Kagome, blocking the younger man's view.

"Yes, Miko. You got a problem with that, boy?" Inuyasha didn't try to hide the contempt from his voice.

The younger man finally dragged his eyes away from the stunning woman in order to look up at the Inugami… and what he saw there made him shrink back in shock. This was no docile Inugami, as he had assumed. Golden eyes glowed, boring into him with intense malice, accented by a curled lip that flashed deadly fangs.

He heard the scrape of metal, noticing for the first time the sword this demon carried, and watched in shocked as it transformed before his eyes into a weapon easily as long as he was tall. The younger man took another step back, suddenly realizing that he had made a grave, grave mistake.

In terror, the father had watched the scene unfold. His son was truly a fool to have angered this demon so. Clearly he was the Miko's protector… But why did that sound so familiar?

A demon who protected a Miko?

A demon… and… a Miko…

Trembling from both fear and shocked realization, the father threw himself down on the ground between his son and Inuyasha, bowing in dogeza.

"A thousand apologies for my son's insult to you, Lord Inuyasha! We did not recognize you, nor did we recognize the Shikon Miko! Please, I beg you for my son's life. He is young and foolish, but he meant no harm!"

In stunned silence, Kagome had also watched the scene unfold. What had happened to cause Inuyasha to react in such a way? She would need to ask him about it later. For now, she stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on his forearm. It was her silent plea that her mate accept the father's apology and stand down.

Inuyasha did not move his gaze from his prey but felt it when Kagome touched his arm. Felt some of his rage subside. Felt some of the red clear from his vision.

It was enough. He sheathed Tetsusaiga.

"You and your son best be on your way, old man. And maybe you wanna remind him of his manners when it comes to staring at what doesn't belong to him… That is, if he wants to keep his eyes."

The dark tone of Inuyasha's last words promised many things – none of which either traveller ever wanted to learn about – and the older man could only nod dumbly as he motioned for his son to take up his position on the other side of the ox once again.

Miroku stepped to the side, out of the travellers' way. He cleared his throat again before speaking. "I bid you both safe travels. Please accept my blessing upon you and your animal." He held up his hand in a mudra and both men looked at the monk gratefully.

Inuyasha continued to glare but stepped to the side as well, motioning for Kagome, Rin and Shippō to do the same. Crossing both arms over his chest, his glare didn't let up until the two men were what he deemed a comfortable distance away.

"Inuyasha," Miroku eyed his friend with a slight frown. "Do you not think that that was a bit excessive? You know better than most that the Lady Kagome is a beautiful woman. As long as they do not touch, is there really so much harm in them looking that it would call for you to draw Tetsusaiga?"

Inuyasha glowered at Miroku. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that, monk, and that you of all people didn't say it."

Kagome spoke softly then, a look of concern in her eyes. "Inuyasha, I think Miroku's right. That was a bit excessive. What's going on?"

Before Inuyasha could reply, Shippō piped up. "Who cares! I say good riddance! I can't believe how bad that human smelled. I mean, he stunk when he first arrived but then it got so much worse after!"

Inuyasha looked at Shippō, thoughtful for a beat before directing his eyes back up to Kagome's questioning gaze. "Kagome, take Rin and Miroku and the three of you walk ahead a bit. Not too far, mind you. I need to talk to Shippō alone for a minute."

Kagome looked at Inuyasha for another long moment. Why was he changing the subject so suddenly? Of course, she'd also been worried about the growing animosity between her kit and her mate… Maybe this was for the best?

Conceding to Inuyasha's request, Kagome sighed and nodded before turning to continue walking. Rin and Miroku each shot Inuyasha their own questioning glance before falling in beside Kagome.

When the three humans were deemed far enough out of earshot, Inuyasha turned back to the kitsune. "Shippō, I need to talk to you, male to male. Can we do that?"

Shippō eyed Inuyasha warily. Was this some new trick the big bully was trying to pull on him? He didn't look like he was trying to be tricky, and Shippō couldn't scent a lie when he took a delicate whiff in the hanyou's direction. He crossed his arms over his small chest.

"Okay, let's talk. Male to male."

"I need to know what's gotten into you, runt? Ever since Kagome came back you've been acting like a brat."

Shippō was indignant. "Me? What's gotten into me? What's gotten into you? You walk around acting like you own Kagome! Like she belongs to you!"

"That's because she does belong to me, runt!"

"No, she doesn't! She was MINE FIRST!"

Inuyasha was taken aback by the vehemence in the kit's words. He considered his own next words very carefully, willing the tone of his voice to stay even as he spoke.

"Shippō, you don't seriously think I'm trying to take Kagome away from you, do you?"

"Aren't you? Kagome's been back for almost a week already and I've barely seen her! She never spends time with me like she used to, never plays with me like she used to! Never cuddles me like she used to! And why? Because you've stolen her away all for yourself!" Shippō all but screamed those last words.

Inuyasha signed and scrubbed a hand down his face. Arguing with the kit about this wasn't going to solve anything. And honestly, if he were to put himself in the runt's paws he would likely be just as upset. Still, Shippō had to accept that things had changed. It didn't mean that Kagome would never have time for him anymore. It just meant that, well, this wasn't three years ago; they weren't on the shard hunt any longer, and she was his mate now.

Sighing again, Inuyasha plopped down on his haunches in the middle of the road, surprising the fox kit as he got down to his eye level.

"Look, Shippō, you're getting older now. Don't you think it's time you leave the childish sulking behind?"

Shippō went red in the face and Inuyasha thought the runt was gonna start screaming all over again. Quickly, he clamped a hand across the kit's mouth, forcing him to listen whether he wanted to or not.

"I need to know, Shippō, should I be treating you like I treat Aki and Yuki and Ichiro or should I be treating you like one of the elders of this pack? Because if you want me to treat you as an elder, you can't have it both ways. You can't be whining and complaining and sulking one minute and then demanding I take you seriously the next."

Inuyasha's words didn't seem to be calming Shippō's ire, but he ploughed ahead anyway. "Kit, that smell you smelt on the asshole we just passed? That was a kind of…" He fumbled for an age-appropriate way to explain it. "A kind of…yearning. The kind that a male would have for his mate."

Shippō's eyes widened slightly before he gulped uncomfortably at the implications of Inuyasha's words.

"You have to realize that most of our pack are human, Shippō. Yes, Sango, Kagome and Miroku are all strong in their own ways, but they're still just human. Eventually, it will be up to us to protect them and Rin and the twins and the babe. We can smell things, hear things, sense things that they just can't, so either I can trust you to help Miroku and I take care of Kagome and Rin today when we get to the market, or else I need to consider you as someone in need of being taken care of yourself."

An indignant look came into the kit's eyes, but he stayed silent. Inuyasha took a deep breath before he continued. He knew had the kit's attention now.

"I'm sorry you lost the wench when you were still so young, runt. I really am. I know that she was like a mother to you back then, and she still is. Don't ever think that she isn't. You'd be dumb to think that she loves you any less now than she did then. But things are different now and they ain't going back to how they used to be."

"It's your choice, Shippō, but for what it's worth, you've probably seen more battle in your life than any other Kitsune your age ever has. I think Kagome's right. You've got it in you to be great someday. So then the question becomes, are you gonna step up and become the warrior that your mother knows you can become? Or are you gonna stay stuck in childish things? Are you willing to humble yourself enough to accept me as the leader of this pack? Or are we forever gonna be fighting over Kagome? Which one is it gonna be, Shippō? I want to count on you, but I need to know that you're up for this. That Seventh Senior Rank of yours makes me want to think that you are, but all this damn whining and pouting you've been doing has been telling me otherwise."

Inuyasha finally removed his hand from the kit's mouth and settled it on his shoulder instead, golden eyes penetrating bright green ones. A long moment of silence passed between the two demons before Shippō finally gulped, averting his eyes and raising his chin slightly in submission.

"I want… I want to make Kagome proud of me."

"She's already proud of you, Shippō. You know she is. You heard how impressed she was at the progress you made in your training while she was gone. Don't ever think she's not proud of you. What's important here is that you gotta want this, too. Don't just do this for her. Do this for the pack and, most importantly, do this for yourself."

Shippō cocked his head to the side, considering Inuyasha's words again. With a short nod, Inuyasha had his answer.

"Good. That's good. Then from this moment on, I'm gonna be count on you. If you ever smell that same smell from earlier coming from an outsider and aimed at any of our pack I need you to come find me right away. If you smell any of our pack in fear, I need you to come find me right away. If you smell them in pain I need you come find me right away. Do you get what I'm saying here, runt?"

Shippō nodded again, a determined look settling into his eyes. He felt…different…somehow.

Inuyasha smirked knowingly before raising off off the ground and brushing the dust off of his hakama. "Good. Now let's get going. I don't like it when the wench strays too far from my side."



killadustbunny & nrg92 - Ah! Thank you! I really want to portray the growth of these characters and the serious side of Inuyasha is definitely going to be showing up more and more. (Like it did in his talk with Shippō at the end of this chapter!)

Alannada - Hee-hee! So you noticed that, did you? It was done on purpose, the name the kami told Toga to call her. I don't want to give too much away just yet, but the further we get into the story the reasons for this will become more and more clear :)

Amanda B - That is a true compliment, not being able to put this story down! Thank you! Because I DEFINITELY know that feeling, and to think that something I've written has held someone else in that same state of "Ack! I just need to read some morrrrreeeee." Wow! Thank you so much! Also, yes! When I made that note a couple of months ago the mapped out chapters were already sitting at over 100. Now, I'm up to around 125! Eeep! Definitely gonna be a long fic!

Everyone Else - Here comes market day! Thank you all for your patience as I worked out this multi-chapter story arc! Hopefully, now that I've got the bigger plot pieces in place, chapters will start coming out more quickly again. Thank you, to everyone who has commented here and on Tumblr! Your kind words remind me why I keep writing!

A/N – You can find me chatting about behind-the-scenes stuff over on Tumblr. My username is sarah-writes-stories

(And, of course, I do not own Inuyasha nor any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.)