The Miko in the Beau's Room
Kagome was warm and comfy. She slowly drifted to the wakefulness, her mind providing her with memories of the last day and groggily wishing there was a coffee cup waiting for her next to her bed. But no, she had to go downstairs and make some for herself. Thoughts of coffee didn't stay in her head for long, replaced by recollections of the previous day.
She remembered the festival, the scents of food mixing with incense. The happy voices and the cheerful ringing of the bells. The heavy mantle over her shoulders. She remembered her family and friends having good time.
She remembered the kami's warm smile and wink. His amused expression and outlandish demands for reading material.
She remembered the kagura, her reiki swirling and swelling, touching Inuyasha's youki, their minds touching. It had felt so serene, so... right. Even ow she could feel the amazing elation of that kagura dance.
Still, it was eclipsed by the memory of their meeting under the Sacred Tree. The vivid image of Inuyasha's face, eyes wide, cheeks flushed, wild hair falling over his shoulders filled her mind. The memory of her nervous alliteration spree and his attempts at silencing her. The sheer realization what they had talked about and to what she'd agreed, it made her gasp and sit up in her bed.
But it wasn't her bed.
Kagome blinked and looked around the room she was in, the shriek of excited and embarrassed glee dying in her throat as she inspected her surroundings. Her blanket was green and there were old pictures on the walls. She recognized the light bulb casing as her own attempt at handwork. She was in Inuyasha's room and judging by the light, it was early morning.
"Inuyasha's room?" she blinked at the place.
"You fell asleep," Kagome jumped in her seat and turned to see Inuyasha sitting in a corner, a book in hand. He was looking at her, his ears drooping at the sight of her panicked expression. "I didn't carry you to your room, Sango and your mom were already asleep there. I ain't suicidal to go where Sango sleeps."
"Oh, um... thank you for letting me borrow your bed," Kagome blushed at the realization that she'd spent a big portion of the night sleeping in Inuyasha's room. "But, for the record, Sango wouldn't hurt you if you carried me to mine. There was no need for you not to use your bed."
He shrugged. Kagome ran her fingers through her tousled hair, hoping she didn't look like a horror movie monster. She was fully dressed under her blanket, which she regarded as both good and bad. She trusted Inuyasha, but they were not that far in their relationship to go for undressing the other while they slept. Still, a part of her regretted he didn't, because sleeping in a push up bra was not a pleasant experience.
"So, you carried me here and watched me when I slept?" she asked, the tone of her voice teasing. His ears twitched and perked up as his expression changed from guarded to scowling.
"Keh! I wasn't staring at you like a creep while you slept and drooled on my pillow, if that's what you're thinking about, wench!" he shot back with his usual fiery defiance. Kagome couldn't help but smile at that. This subdued, wary look didn't suit Inuyasha and it was good to see that being her boyfriend didn't mean he'd treat her differently out of a sudden.
Last night they had kissed and stayed in the forest for a long while, Inuyasha showing her a spot from where they could watch stars flicker. She'd lay in the grass littered with wild flowers in the middle of a meadow, tucked against his side, listening to the sounds of the night forest and teasing Inuyasha with strings of words coincidentally starting with the same letter. After the first wave of awkwardness between them they'd settled in a kind of pleasant, quiet joy that had lulled Kagome to sleep.
Even remembering that night made Kagome's heart flutter and her lips curl in a soft smile.
"What are you smiling at, crazy wench?" Inuyasha asked, thrown off by her lack of outraged denials of sleep drooling habits.
"You, boyfriend," Kagome informed him with her smile getting wider. Then, after a second or two, it hit her. "Wait, what? I don't drool!"
"Feh, everyone does!" Inuyasha pointed a finger at her. "If you want to, next time i can make photos!"
"You shall not dare!" Kagome growled.
"Wanna bet?" he smirked.
Kagome threw the pillow at his head. He dodged it easily and leaped towards her, claws ready to dish out a terrible retaliation.
"No, no, no!" Kagome screeched, reading the grim intent in his mind. Before she could scramble from under the blanket, Inuyasha was at her side, reaching to her sides to tickle her. By a stroke of luck her flailing hands gripped around his wrists and pinned them against the bedding. Kagome looked up, unsure what to do next. Inuyasha was motionless and looking over his shoulder.
Over his shoulder she saw Miroku standing in the opened door. He looked disheveled and half asleep, but he had his staff in one hand. His blue eyes moved from Inuyasha to her and then back. Then, to Kagome's terror, Miroku smiled.
"Uh-oh, a thousand apologies, my friends. I heard a ruckus and came to check, what was amiss. But it looks like I was mistaken. Carry on and rest assured I will alert everyone at home to ignore all the noises that will come from this fine room," Miroku assured the startled pair smoothly.
"Damn, monk!" Inuyasha barked and leaped after Miroku, who managed to slide the door shut and, judging by the noise, was now stampeding down the corridor. Inuyasha ran after him. "Don't you dare make any assumptions, you freaking idiot!"
Kagome, now alone in the room, flopped down on the bed and pulled the blanket over her head. There was no doubt in her mind that Miroku would do his utmost to make their relationship status known to everyone. She pressed her hands against her flaming cheeks, facing Sango and her mom would be so embarrassing now! But, to be honest, she hadn't planned to keep this a secret from her family and friends.
'Inuyasha,' she called out to the hanyou hunting the other man. 'Don't do anything to him.'
'He got idiot ideas!' Inuyasha replied in irritation and made her giggle. 0
The next moment she froze when an aura washed over her.
"Kagome, child," said a soft, masculine voice from the other side of the blanket. "You did well. You pleased us greatly, both with your kagura and with your good, pure heart."
"Kami-sama...?" She tugged the blanket off of her head and saw the kami standing in the shoji leading to the engawa. Yama smiled his gentle, serene smile and stepped inside to place an arrow on the table tucked in the corner of the room.
"A token of our favor." he explained when he saw her quizzical look. "It was woven from Inuyasha and yours energies as they mingled. It was bathed in the mountain dew and shaped by Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto's light. It was sharpened by Amaterasu-Ōmikami 's first rays at dawn. Ir holds no impurities and it shall aid you against all that is tarnished. Use it well."
Before Kagome could ask any question or even tank him properly, the mountain deity disappeared and all that was left was an arrow that looked nothing like an artifact from a kami should look like. If not for a white ribbon tied around the shaft under the arrowhead, Kagome could've easily mistook it for one of her own arrows.
The miko rose from the bed, fixed her robes and went to touch the gift, tentatively reaching with her reiki to the object. Her fingertips barely brushed against the warm wood of the shaft when she heard running footsteps approaching the doorway. She managed to turn around just in time to face Sango and Souta, both grinning at her and rushing to her, asking excitedly if what Miroku had told them as he'd been running past them, chased by the shrine guardian, was true.
As the young people left the room no one noticed the kanji glimmering silver on the ribbon and disappearing again like dew in sunlight.
'Thou, who desecrate the apparent and hidden realms, heed this command! With the reiki and the youki that serve our divine will, we cleanse thy vast defilement. Rejoice as your sin is purified and bow to our will.'