Wolf
Part Five: "Inu Yasha"
by Vega
"I'm giving her up."
Inu Yasha stared at Kouga as if he had just spontaneously grown an extra head.
"Inu Yasha, did you hear what I said? I don't want Kagome to be my woman any more, I--"
"Whoa, you wimpy wolf, I heard ya!" the dog hanyou snapped, and resumed staring at his long time rival for Kagome's affection. The day was annoyingly cheerful, the weather wonderful in the Inu Yasha Forest. The hanyou it was named for was seated on the edge of the Bone-Eater's Well, as he had been waiting for Kagome to meet him there before her journey back to her own era. And that was where Kouga had found him moments earlier.
"You're just... givin' her up? Just like that?" the hanyou continued, and Kouga nodded. Inu Yasha's golden eyes narrowed. "What's the catch?"
"No catch," Kouga shrugged. "The final battle is over and Naraku is gone. I no longer have need of Kagome because the Shikon no Tama is complete."
"What!?" Inu Yasha snarled, "Is that the only reason you've been chasing her around like some base animal in rutting? Cause she's a Shard Detector?"
"You make it sound so unsophisticated," Kouga sneered, "besides, isn't that the only reason you're friends with Kagome?"
Inu Yasha opened his mouth to shout back a witty retort, but he found it dying on his tongue. Something in the wimpy wolf's words struck where it hurt the most.
"You love her, Inu Yasha," Kouga sighed and let his defensive posture drop. Inu Yasha silently mimicked, but remained rocked forward on the balls of his feet, just in case. Kouga noted that Inu Yasha did not argue with his statement. "I thought, maybe I did... perhaps at one point, my love was real, but..."
"But?"
Kouga shrugged. "I met someone else."
"That wolf bitch from up north?"
"Ayame?" Kouga chukled, "she's too young. Besides, she's got a mate now. No... this girl... she was a hanyou."
Inu Yasha's yellow eyes narrowed. "What Hanyou?"
"You never met her. I made sure of that," Inu Yasha's ears twitched forward, unsure if Kouga's words were meant to be an insult or not. He decided to let that one slide. "She was a canine hanyou: fox, wolf, dog... she was quite the mix."
"Keh," the hanyou sniffed and folded his arms into the sleeves of his signature red haori. "Where is this mutt girl now?"
Kouga shot Inu Yasha an annoyed glare, but kept back his short retort. For Kagome's sake, he wanted to at least try to be civil to his long time rival before the 'Naraku o ou Mono' parted was for good.
"I don't know. I think she was kidnapped by Naraku. He's dead, so if she's still alive, she'll be free. So I'm going to look for her."
"Well," Kagome said, and both demons whipped around to see her coming out of the forest, standing beside the Goshiboku, one hand absently caressing the bark. She was dressed in one of Sango's casual kimono, as the battle the week before had totalled her sailor fuku. She looked unbelievably pretty in the period dress of this era, and Kouga wondered idly if maybe he was making a mistake, giving up on the Miko. "Describe what she looks like, Kouga-kun, and maybe we can help you find her."
"She's very easy to spot," Kouga said, overtop of Inu Yasha's "Keh - I don't want to help the wimpy wolf!"
Kagome shot him a death glare and then smiled sweetly at Kouga and said, "please, continue."
"She has very blue eyes, and red hair, like your fox kit's. The most distinctive thing is her arm, though."
Inu Yasha's posture stiffened slightly. "What about her arm?"
Kouga lifted his right are to help him illustrate and explained, "It was very badly hurt. The scarring would be extensive. Puncture marks here, where she was bitten by a large youkai. The rest, from here to here, is burns, bad ones."
Kagome stared at him with wide eyes.
Understanding struck the two of them like lightning.
Kouga locked eyes with her and then slowly, his voice pitched low, said, "You've seen her."
Kagome nodded like a marionette and Inu Yasha moved to stand beside her, obviously perturbed by her strange reaction. Kouga noticed out of the corner of his eye that the Hanyou grabbed the Miko's hand, the gesture half-hidden behind the wide sleeves of his fire-rat fur haori.
"Yes, Kouga-kun, I have. Two weeks ago, in fact. Right before we found that large stash of Shards. She... she gave me this." Kagome reached into her pocket and pulled out a vial with a cork stopper, and a small sliver of Shikon Shard inside it.
"That's not possible! You never showed me that before!" Inu Yasha almost yelled. "The Tama is compete!"
Kagome smiled slightly and touched the hand-blown glass bead rosary through her shirt. From it hung the delicate magenta jewel that all this messy war business had been fought for, complete, and purified.
"Yes - but this shard comes from.... well, it's hard to explain," she admitted, her feet scuffing the dirt. "It's a time travel thing. This one is from further in the past than we are now - I just need to make sure it gets to where it's going to go, and it'll all work out."
"How do you know that!" Inu Yasha snarled, and let go of Kagome's hand, starting to get agitated. Kouga stepped back and crossed his arms, smirking.
"Well, because it already has!" Kagome snipped back. Then he narrowed her eyes on Kouga. "AS I was saying, I've seen her. She gave me this. Kouga, she's from MY time."
"Hm," was all Kouga said. After a long moment of thinking he finally declared, "Then I guess I better stay alive that long, huh?"
And with that he jumped up into a tree and sped off, back to where he'd left Ginta and Hakkaku trying to spruce up the den. The three of them were going to live in it again, and if any of them wanted mates, the place would have to look nice.
Calling over his shoulder he cried out, "Good luck training HER to be a suitable mate, mutt-face!"
He laughed when he heard Kagome's screeching, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"
Part Five: "Inu Yasha"
by Vega
"I'm giving her up."
Inu Yasha stared at Kouga as if he had just spontaneously grown an extra head.
"Inu Yasha, did you hear what I said? I don't want Kagome to be my woman any more, I--"
"Whoa, you wimpy wolf, I heard ya!" the dog hanyou snapped, and resumed staring at his long time rival for Kagome's affection. The day was annoyingly cheerful, the weather wonderful in the Inu Yasha Forest. The hanyou it was named for was seated on the edge of the Bone-Eater's Well, as he had been waiting for Kagome to meet him there before her journey back to her own era. And that was where Kouga had found him moments earlier.
"You're just... givin' her up? Just like that?" the hanyou continued, and Kouga nodded. Inu Yasha's golden eyes narrowed. "What's the catch?"
"No catch," Kouga shrugged. "The final battle is over and Naraku is gone. I no longer have need of Kagome because the Shikon no Tama is complete."
"What!?" Inu Yasha snarled, "Is that the only reason you've been chasing her around like some base animal in rutting? Cause she's a Shard Detector?"
"You make it sound so unsophisticated," Kouga sneered, "besides, isn't that the only reason you're friends with Kagome?"
Inu Yasha opened his mouth to shout back a witty retort, but he found it dying on his tongue. Something in the wimpy wolf's words struck where it hurt the most.
"You love her, Inu Yasha," Kouga sighed and let his defensive posture drop. Inu Yasha silently mimicked, but remained rocked forward on the balls of his feet, just in case. Kouga noted that Inu Yasha did not argue with his statement. "I thought, maybe I did... perhaps at one point, my love was real, but..."
"But?"
Kouga shrugged. "I met someone else."
"That wolf bitch from up north?"
"Ayame?" Kouga chukled, "she's too young. Besides, she's got a mate now. No... this girl... she was a hanyou."
Inu Yasha's yellow eyes narrowed. "What Hanyou?"
"You never met her. I made sure of that," Inu Yasha's ears twitched forward, unsure if Kouga's words were meant to be an insult or not. He decided to let that one slide. "She was a canine hanyou: fox, wolf, dog... she was quite the mix."
"Keh," the hanyou sniffed and folded his arms into the sleeves of his signature red haori. "Where is this mutt girl now?"
Kouga shot Inu Yasha an annoyed glare, but kept back his short retort. For Kagome's sake, he wanted to at least try to be civil to his long time rival before the 'Naraku o ou Mono' parted was for good.
"I don't know. I think she was kidnapped by Naraku. He's dead, so if she's still alive, she'll be free. So I'm going to look for her."
"Well," Kagome said, and both demons whipped around to see her coming out of the forest, standing beside the Goshiboku, one hand absently caressing the bark. She was dressed in one of Sango's casual kimono, as the battle the week before had totalled her sailor fuku. She looked unbelievably pretty in the period dress of this era, and Kouga wondered idly if maybe he was making a mistake, giving up on the Miko. "Describe what she looks like, Kouga-kun, and maybe we can help you find her."
"She's very easy to spot," Kouga said, overtop of Inu Yasha's "Keh - I don't want to help the wimpy wolf!"
Kagome shot him a death glare and then smiled sweetly at Kouga and said, "please, continue."
"She has very blue eyes, and red hair, like your fox kit's. The most distinctive thing is her arm, though."
Inu Yasha's posture stiffened slightly. "What about her arm?"
Kouga lifted his right are to help him illustrate and explained, "It was very badly hurt. The scarring would be extensive. Puncture marks here, where she was bitten by a large youkai. The rest, from here to here, is burns, bad ones."
Kagome stared at him with wide eyes.
Understanding struck the two of them like lightning.
Kouga locked eyes with her and then slowly, his voice pitched low, said, "You've seen her."
Kagome nodded like a marionette and Inu Yasha moved to stand beside her, obviously perturbed by her strange reaction. Kouga noticed out of the corner of his eye that the Hanyou grabbed the Miko's hand, the gesture half-hidden behind the wide sleeves of his fire-rat fur haori.
"Yes, Kouga-kun, I have. Two weeks ago, in fact. Right before we found that large stash of Shards. She... she gave me this." Kagome reached into her pocket and pulled out a vial with a cork stopper, and a small sliver of Shikon Shard inside it.
"That's not possible! You never showed me that before!" Inu Yasha almost yelled. "The Tama is compete!"
Kagome smiled slightly and touched the hand-blown glass bead rosary through her shirt. From it hung the delicate magenta jewel that all this messy war business had been fought for, complete, and purified.
"Yes - but this shard comes from.... well, it's hard to explain," she admitted, her feet scuffing the dirt. "It's a time travel thing. This one is from further in the past than we are now - I just need to make sure it gets to where it's going to go, and it'll all work out."
"How do you know that!" Inu Yasha snarled, and let go of Kagome's hand, starting to get agitated. Kouga stepped back and crossed his arms, smirking.
"Well, because it already has!" Kagome snipped back. Then he narrowed her eyes on Kouga. "AS I was saying, I've seen her. She gave me this. Kouga, she's from MY time."
"Hm," was all Kouga said. After a long moment of thinking he finally declared, "Then I guess I better stay alive that long, huh?"
And with that he jumped up into a tree and sped off, back to where he'd left Ginta and Hakkaku trying to spruce up the den. The three of them were going to live in it again, and if any of them wanted mates, the place would have to look nice.
Calling over his shoulder he cried out, "Good luck training HER to be a suitable mate, mutt-face!"
He laughed when he heard Kagome's screeching, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"