Chapter Six- New Life

Kagome huffed and her tail twitched angrily as she, Inuyasha, and her family headed for the well's shrine the next morning. Kagome was upset as her Transform only lasted for four hours, not long enough to go to school. She had been reluctantly forced to conclude that she would have to drop out of school.

Mrs. Higurashi hugged her at the well's edge. "I'll claim that you are attending a boarding school and get your records from school. But, please continue to visit."

"Of course, Mom," she said and sighed as her mother scratched behind her ears.

Sota took the opportunity to look at Inuyasha and say, "You better treat her right."

"Feh, as if I wouldn't." Inwardly, Inuyasha was annoyed with being warned to be nice to Kagome. He had been supportive since she became a demon, which was a bit unusual for him. I rather like being nice to her and as I think of her as my mate, it would be the thing for me to do. Kagome pulled out of her mother's hug, took the hand he offered, and the two returned to the feudal era.

Once they had touched down, Inuyasha pulled Kagome close and began scratching an ear. She smiled as she reached up to scratch one of his. There was a content sound that she was sure very few people heard.

"This is nice," he said as they stopped scratching.

"It is," she agreed. Both leaped up and out of the well to see no one around. Kagome perched herself on the edge while her mate stood on the edge. "I guess they slept in or are still traveling," she said.

Inuyasha nodded. "You're not too upset about not going to school, are you?"

"No, but I still would have wanted to go. On the other hand, I don't have to worry about studying for tests."

"Yeah. I thought those tests would give you gray hairs from stressing out so much."

"Look who's talking," she teased.

"It's natural," he protested without heat. Both laughed.

Then they sniffed the area as a scent floated to them. Kagome recognized it as a fox demon, but it wasn't Shippo. This was another fox and she recognized something else. "He's got a jewel shard," she said.

"Interesting," Inuyasha said as he jumped down and flexed his fingers. "I love it when they come to us."

The scent grew stronger and then the demon emerged. He was at least six feet tall with a fox's muzzle, tail, ears, and paws for feet. His gold eyes eyed the pair before locking onto Kagome. As he approached in a non-threatening manner, she spied the glow of the shard in his forehead, a typical place for a shard to be.

The fox reached Kagome, his nose flaring as he crouched down. "Hmm, you are a young one," he rumbled. "No children, excellent. You are also lovely and would make a fine mate."

Kagome gave a small squeak and Inuyasha said, "Back off, pal! She's my mate."

"You?" The fox laughed. "Why in the world would a demon like her want to be the mate of a half-breed like you and a dog at that?"

"Because I like him and choose to be with him," Kagome retorted. "Inuyasha, the forehead!"

"On it," he answered, intuiting what she meant. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" Inuyasha lashed out with his claws and shredded the demon into pieces. A glow appeared and Inuyasha seized it before opening his hand to reveal a shard which he added to the bottle Kagome kept on her. "Well, one less to search for."

Kagome nodded. "Am I gonna keep attracting fox demons?"

"Possibly; unless you're marked so they don't bother you."

"You mean like being bitten?" she asked in a tone that suggested she didn't like that idea.

"Some demons do that. I have a different idea. Three scratch marks right here." He touched the back of her left shoulder. "The scent of my claws will be transferred to the mark and tell others that you're unavailable. It wouldn't be actual scratches, just a mark."

"Oh. Well, in that case." Kagome maneuvered her top to expose the spot and turned around. "Go ahead."

Inuyasha summoned his aura and ran three fingers down the back of the shoulder. Three red lines appeared and a bit of his aura went into them. "It's done. This officially makes us mates."

"That's it? It didn't hurt, just warm." Kagome readjusted her top and turned to face him.

"Yeah, I didn't want you to be in pain as you would have been from a mating bite."

"That's so sweet."

He shrugged. "I have my moments."

"Kagome! Inuyasha!" came Sango's voice before the group appeared on Kirara's back, Kagome's bike with them.

Shippo practically launched himself from Kirara's back before the cat landed and into Kagome's arms. "Kagome! I missed you so much!"

"I wasn't gone that long," she laughed as the kit snuggled her. His nose picked up Inuyasha's scent nearby though said half-demon wasn't that close. His nose flared and found the scent behind his mom's left shoulder. "Mom, did Inuyasha mark you?"

"Just now. You picked up on it, huh?"

"Yeah."

"He didn't bit, he implanted his aura to leave three lines there."

"Oh. Then, that's okay." He jumped down.

"So, your family's okay with you being a demon?" Miroku asked.

"They are. Oh, watch this!" Kagome used Transform to take human form.

"Oh! You mastered it," Sango said.

"It doesn't last long enough to go to school, only four hours." Kagome dropped the change.

"So, no school?" Miroku asked.

"That's right, but I will keep visiting."

"Of course. No reason not to."

"Kagome," Sango spoke up. "I've been wondering. Can you still sense jewel shards?"

"I can. Inuyasha and I just one before you showed up."

"Really?"

"It came from a fox demon who was attracted to me as I hadn't been claimed at that point."

"Wait. You've been claimed?" Sango asked, as the conversation between her and Shippo had been quiet.

Kagome tapped her shoulder. "Right here. It'll keep other demons from being attracted to me and it makes us official mates."

"Yes, of course," the demon slayer said. "Female demons tend to attract a lot of males until they're claimed."

"Hey, I just realized that Kaede and the villagers don't know what happened," Kagome said.

"Let's go see them," Shippo suggested. "I miss Kaede." He got into the basket as Kagome got onto her bike and pedaled toward Kaede's village. In just a couple of short days, she had become a demon, learned some magic, earned Inuyasha's love, and been claimed by him. I think I'll stay here and have the life I dreamed about: Raising Shippo and having a life with Inuyasha, my new mate.

The End