Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of its characters

Beads of Subjugation

The atmosphere was a little heavy over the small camp of adventurers and friends... but the majority did not worry at all; they knew that by morning everything would be back to normal. It was just Kagome and Inuyasha fighting and Kagome sitting Inuyasha in the end; nothing unusual, despite how angry the involved people still were... or pretended to be.

Kagome was sitting close to the fire with her back towards the tree, right next to the camp, where the... sat half demon was sitting on a branch with his back to the rest of the team and Kagome, of course. Both were supposed to be relaxed and not caring about the argument or each other, but Kagome's back was very straight and stiff, arms crossed on her chest, head defiantly tilted upwards and eyebrows furrowed. Miroku, Sango and Shippo were certain that the silver-haired half demon had exactly the same position and expression, plus his twitching ears.

One would think friends should always be the mediators and try to mend the relationship between two arguing parties, but these friends knew better. If they tried to speak in favor of one or the other, it would only result in firing up the fight once again. That is why, they chose to just say goodnight to both Kagome and Inuyasha and go to sleep, leaving them alone with their thoughts; and something told them, both were in deep thought concerning what happened and the mean used - unjustly in Inuyasha's opinion - to put a stop to it.

Indeed, both half demon and human girl were thinking exactly why did they fight and why Kagome used the beads of subjugation. Inuyasha was really pissed at her. As usual, he could not understand why she sat him. His fingers were angrily drumming on his arms and his toes twitched similarly.

"Tsk! Stupid woman! You still don't get it?" He mumbled frowning more, but in a while his face and body relaxed considerably and a sigh escaped his chest as he closed his golden eyes.

To be honest, he kind of knew why Kagome got angry and sat him. He was too proud and stubborn to admit it, but with time he had began understanding how Kagome's emotions led her acting like that... and how alike they were some times.

Despite their differences in era, upbringing and everything, both were quite hot-headed and short-tempered, getting easily worked up by trivial things and in need of venting out their anger and frustration. Inuyasha did so by yelling at the top of his lungs... or hitting Shippo and Miroku, even when not at fault. He had seen many times men, friends pushing and even punching each other for fun, so... that's how male friends can behave with each other, right?

But he would never even think of laying such a hand on Sango or Kagome! No, he was not unreasonably violent, like some petty excuses of men who hit women and children trying to prove their "bravery" or taking out on them whatever problems they have. Kagome could drive him mad with anger but he would rather be killed by Naraku and his demons than becoming violent towards her... He already hated himself enough for hurting her the times he turned full demon.

On the contrary, many times when arguing - especially when it concerned Kikyo, exactly as their current argument did - he felt at a loss of words to make Kagome understand and overwhelmed by an impulse of shutting the girl's pretty mouth with a kiss, such a deep kiss, to finally make her believe him that his interest for the revived priestess was entirely different. But his guilt and duty towards Kikyo did not allow him to act on his desires, because that would make him feel happy and alive, while she was not...

Anyway, he could understand Kagome. Her upbringing and personality did not allow her to express herself in a manner similar to his. Therefore, the power the beads gave her over him, was a good outlet for when she reached her limits. Just like Inuyasha knew Miroku and Shippo - a man and a full demon respectively - could handle his very controlled punches, Kagome knew Inuyasha could handle the sits without getting harmed, because she knew how strong and sturdy his body was.

Besides, even though he did not always realize how difficult and stressing their current way of life was to Kagome, he was not blind and could easily see in her eyes how she struggled to be brave and not give in to her fears, as well as her guilt - at least some times - after using the beads of subjugation; therefore, he could allow her this way of releasing on him her stress, anger, whatever she felt, if it helped her remain the Kagome he had grown to care for so much.

Just like that, with these thoughts, his anger evaporated in a second and slowly turned his head back to steal a glance at the said girl, to see if hers had also subsided because, of course, he would not be the first one to apologize or anything. Kagome's body had also lost its tense posture and it was obvious she was sulking while thinking; meaning that in a while he could approach her. Inuyasha turned the other way again and remained on the tree branch, waiting with a knowing smirk on his lips.

Despite only the few months of knowing each other, the half demon had realized many things about the human girl, more than he dared to admit, both to himself and others. Kagome was indeed not that angry at him anymore... she actually felt really awful for giving in to her evil emotions once again and using the beads that way, when Inuyasha and Kikyo met only to exchange some information.

With a deep sigh she pulled her knees up, circled them with her arms and steadied her chin over her folded hands. Kaede had given her the beads of subjugation in order to keep Inuyasha from attacking her - at the beginning of their acquaintance - and later to stop him from running recklessly in danger, or save him from Kouga or even his own demon self, but not for her to take out all her selfish anger towards him!

She was well aware that was why she sat him many times during their arguments and especially if it was about the so sensitive topic of Kikyo, but... By gods, he was the only one who managed to drive her so mad with anger, making her wanting to somehow act on her emotions. Often, she felt like pushing Inuyasha - like she had seen many delinquents doing - or punch his muscular chest with her weak human fists, pull his hair or even... give him a furious kiss!

Perhaps, that way she would finally manage to shove in his dense mind the reasons for her anger, when seeing him run behind Kikyo, like a dog. The girl sighed again, knowing she would never act on any of these violent impulses - she was brought up to be better than that - let alone kissing him out of the blue... If she crossed that line, there would be no way back for her, feelings would be unleashed, ready to drown her and what would she do if Inuyasha did not feel the same and rejected her for Kikyo's sake?

A shudder ran through her body as she tried to send away that thought; she already had many insecurities, there was definitely no need for more. It would only result in her reacting even worse the next time they cross paths with Kikyo and then she would feel more sad, miserable and full of guilt... An awful person.

For all these reasons, she felt unable to react somehow different when feeling the blood throbbing in her head. In no way that made her feel any better, but at least she was releasing part of her frustration, that honestly made her feel like an engine under pressure letting out steam.

Anyway, it was not right using the beads so often based on her emotions. Also, Inuyasha was complaining his body could not take it anymore, although Kagome was certain he was overreacting a bit. She would have realized if that was the case, but she knew how strong in reality her handsome half-demon was!

"Oi, Kagome. Are you not angry anymore?" Inuyasha's voice was heard right beside her and that was when she realized she was smiling and giggling by herself. Instantly, a blush colored her cheeks, as Inuyasha's face entered her sight and it was very... very close to hers.

"Eh? Ehmm... Well... How about you? Are you still angry? Ready to apologize?" She asked hesitantly, but then thought this time she was the one who should apologize... really.

They were just on their way, looking for shards of the pearl and Kikyo just happened to approach the group. Told them she had information on Naraku and... asked Inuyasha to follow her a little further away, in order to share the information with him. Nothing suspicious happened between them, they were in everyone's line of sight. Therefore, Kagome took a deep breath and...

"I am sorry for getting angry and using the beads, when you just wanted to get information helping our quest!" She said with one breath and quite loudly.

"I am sorry for not insisting on Kikyo sharing the information with all of us, right then and there!" Inuyasha was saying simultaneously in a similar manner.

Stunned, they remained staring at each other quite surprised, their eyes wide open and blinking. A rosy color started rising to their faces, when a small grumpy voice drew their attention to the other side of the camp.

"Eh! We were waiting for an hour for you to solve this, but you went and did so as soon as we fell asleep." Shippo said bleary-eyed.

Miroku and Sango, in a similar state nodded while Kirara - in her battle form in order to warm up her friends with her rich fur - yawned gloriously.

"Indeed, guys, we were waiting and waiting and waiting..." Miroku also yawned scratching his neck.

Sango let out a disappointed sigh. "I really wanted to see you making up this time."

"Oi, you bastards... Are you always spying on us for your entertainment?" Inuyasha said in a supposedly dangerous tone.

"Entertainment? Heavy accusation, my friend. We... we are... we are just interested in you two having a good relationship. As friends we simply care for you both... right, dear Sango?" Miroku said in his usual pretense of innocence and Sango nodded emphatically.

"But we can't deny it is very entertaining too. I get what Kagome means by watching these fun cinema movies in her era." Shippo said and chuckled quite impishly.

But a collective and reprimanding "Shippo" made him realize he said it quite loudly. He managed to evade Inuyasha's fist right on time - Miroku did not - and ran to Kagome for protection, even though the girl was also staring at him in a not so friendly manner.

Kirara was watching her friends yelling, fighting and teasing each other while trying to hide their embarrassment. If someone payed more close attention to the cat demon, would see her lips pulled up in a smile and her red eyes sparkling with mirth... Yes, she really loved her humans and demons!

Hello again! A new story is here! I have read so many times that Inuyasha's and Kagome's relationship is toxic due to all these "osuwari", but... come on. let's be honest. No matter how much we love him as a character, he is quite the jerk very, very often, so... yes, I truly believe he is pushing Kagome to her limits and she just can't help herself... I know I couldn't. That's in terms of characters' analysis (something that I truly love doing), other than that, I believe we all understand it's just a repetitive joke, a pattern that I'm beginning to think our Japanese friends tend to really like. However, that's just my view on the matter. I might be right, I might be wrong. Who knows?

Please, review if you like. Let me know what you think about this topic and... That's all from me. Bye! :D