Inu-Yasha rubbed his ears as he heard another crash from the kitchen. It appeared that his hostess wasn't a great cook. With a sigh, he leaned against the side of her chimney, and listened to her half hearted curses, and the sound of Miroku's laughter from the inside.
After his wounds had fully healed, and Miroku was back to normal (he'd asked every nurse in the room to bear his child-save Kagome, for it seemed to Miroku that Inu-Yasha had staked his claim on her already), Kagome was smiling brightly at them, and Inu-Yasha wondered if all mikos were known for their mood swings.
"So, where will you two be staying?" She had asked politely.
"Oh, at an inn, or maybe with some kind village lady." Miroku had responded, shrugging.
"I'll just sleep in the forest," Inu-Yasha answered, mimicking Miroku's shrug, "that's the easiest thing to do."
Kagome's eyes had grown as wide as saucers, and she began shaking her head violently.
"No! Sleeping in the forest? My word, you really don't care what happens to you, do you? No, that simply won't do. You'll stay with me, I have two extra rooms since my brother and grandfather moved away, so Miroku, would you like to stay too?"
"Ah," Miroku said happily, "I've found my kind village woman!"
Kagome smiled brightly, and turned to Inu-Yasha with a very no-nonsense look in her eyes that strangely reminded him of his mother.
"Meiiri, I'm off now," Kagome said to the nurse from earlier, who nodded and handed Kagome her bag.
Kagome slung the pack over her shoulder, and grabbed each male by their hand, and led them out of the tent.
For the past day, he and Miroku had been staying with Kagome, and getting to know each other all a little better. He found that Miroku was allergic to bees, and Kagome was afraid of centipedes, and they learned that Inu-Yasha didn't trust them just yet.
Miroku seemed like a nice man, and Inu-Yasha didn't understand why he didn't seem to have any friends of his own. It seemed suspicious to the hanyou that someone with such a cheerful disposition wouldn't have his own comrades, but Miroku had made it clear that he was fairly alone in the world.
Kagome . . . Kagome reminded Inu-Yasha of his mother. She was kind, and beautiful, and even though she was quick to take him in, she'd leave him any day now. Probably just like his mother did, abandoning him for riches or security.
He gave a disgusted snort and hopped down off the roof when he heard Kagome saying dinner was ready. He could use some chow after what they'd gone through that day . . .
Kagome had been bathing in the stream aside her house, and having a little swim. Inu-Yasha had been hunting in the woods, and Miroku was in town, doing something-Kagome didn't especially want to know. She had broken the surface of the water with a big splash, her whole body rising out of it, just as she spotted Inu-Yasha siting on her roof with a dead rabbit hanging by his side.
"AAAHH!!!"
Needless to say, Kagome screamed, and at the sudden sound, Inu-Yasha fell off the roof and went crashing face first into the ground.
"Oops . .." Kagome said, taking pity on the guy, before remembering that he'd been spying on her as she bathed.
"Hey, why am I feeling sorry for a peeping tom?!"
Inu-Yasha brought his face out of the dirt and yelled, "I didn't even see anything-not that there's anything interesting to look at wench-and I just got back from getting you your stupid dinner! You should be thanking me!"
Kagome's form of thanks was a river rock to the half-breed's head.
She stomped into the house, and screamed, before running back out-still naked-and screaming again when Inu-Yasha looked at her. Before she could go back inside, where, Miroku, who had just gotten back, lay lurking, Inu-Yasha took off his haori and tossed it to the undressed girl, who quickly covered herself with it, and with what little dignity she had left, she went back to her own room.
After a dinner of rabbit stew that night, having seemingly been forgiven, he helped Kagome on her knitting, feeding her more yarn when she asked, and making small talk with her. She didn't learn much about him, save for things she had already suspected; he was a hanyou, he was homeless, and orphaned. So, she filled the time by talking about her life.
"Well, I've lived in this house since I was very little. My father died in the war, and Mama was with child. My little brother, Souta. So, she moved back here, with her father. Not long after that, I'm afraid, she died. It always made me feel sorry for Souta. I had more time with Mother than he did. In her dying days, she wouldn't talk to anyone but Souta. She'd always say how much he looked like Daddy.
I can't remember my father, so whenever I think of him, I picture Souta, but older. My grandpa said that Mama has a picture of him in her things that one of the artists had done at one of the fairs, but I haven't been able to bring myself to look through the box.
It's silly, I guess," she said, sighing as memories from her past came back, "but I guess I'm just a coward."
Inu-Yasha remarked that she was pretty damn brave to take in a wild hanyou and a cursed lech of a monk. Kagome giggled, and looked down at hi, "Miroku may very well be perverted, and cursed, but I don't think you're that wild."
He shifted uncomfortably in his spot on the floor, and let more yarn lose when he saw the string becoming a bit taut.
"What about your grandfather, and brother? You said they moved out?" he asked, trying to take the attention away from her lack of fear for him.
"Oh yes. Grandpa decided he wanted to 'see the world!' and Souta got married. She's a really sweet girl. Her name is Hitomi, but Souta went through hell trying to court her," she smiled at the memory, "I remember it so well. They were still young, but Souta liked her-she'd just moved here from Ais'Ahi. She shot him down at first, but he liked her a lot, so he was persistent. It makes me feel like an old maid though. My little brother being married before me. Can you imagine?"
She sighed, slipping the yarn from one bone needle to another, and Inu-Yasha spoke, "Surely you can't be more than 20 though?" he asked, not knowing it was impolite to ask a girl for her age.
Kagome laughed it off, flattered that he was so far off from her actual years.
"I'm a bit older than that, actually. Souta is 20, and I'm 24. I'm going to die soon, and I haven't even had a decent suitor."
Inu-Yasha had to smirk at that one, "You've had indecent suitors?"
Kagome laughed again, and Inu-Yasha got the impression that she was really a pleasant person when she wasn't yelling at him, "Well, there was Hojo. He was a bit gullible though, and I never really liked him too much. Though, I was a bit jealous when another girl started fawning all over him, and he went for her instead. I got over it pretty quickly, but since then, there really hasn't been any other guy who's been interested in me."
Inu-Yasha looked at the girl, sitting pretty in her chair, and he couldn't help but wonder if all the other guys on the planet were blind. He wasn't about to go and mate with her any time soon, but it was fairly obvious even to the rather dense hanyou that Kagome was a beauty. In so many ways, she reminded him of his mother, but younger, and more trusting. His mother was wonderful, and loving, but she trusted no one.
Kagome hummed quietly to herself, and got a lot of work done on her blanket for that night. They stopped only when Inu-Yasha fed her more string, and found the girl had fallen asleep in her chair. Smirking at her, he gently set aside the knitting, and scooped her up, walking to where her bedroom was. He placed her on her bed, not bothering to change her clothes, and threw the quilt folded over the bottom of the bed over her. He gulped a bit when he saw how she looked as moonbeams spilled through the window and onto her face, but was able to make it out of her room without doing anything stupid.
Miroku snickered as he saw Inu-Yasha coming out of Kagome's room, but he knew better than to say anything so late at night, when Inu-Yasha was usually at his crankiest. The hanyou didn't even hear the snicker, which was unusual, but his mind was elsewhere. He didn't know much about his youkai self. It was all instinct, and no one ever really explained it to him. But he knew that feeling that he had been getting. His youkai senses recognized Kagome as mating material.
Miroku watched as Inu-Yasha stalked off, grumbling about things being, 'entirely too soon' and 'totally stupid wenches' as the hanyou made his way onto the roof to sulk. The monk shook his head and resumed his trip to the kitchen for leftovers of their stew.
Inu-Yasha sat on the roof well into the night, not needing to be bothered by sleep. He didn't trust the miko as far as he could throw her (never mind he could probably get her a good distance into the next three villages), especially since she'd obviously used some spell on him to make his youkai senses go haywire for her. He ignored the fact that mikos didn't do spells, and that this one didn't even seem to realize she was a miko, and continued to gripe as the sun rose. In the distance, he smelled two men walking towards him. They smelled of the castle, he was sure of it.
He growled, and nearly fell off the roof when an unexpected voice came floating up from the ground level.
"Whacha doing up there?" Kagome had asked.
He growled down at her in response, before jumping off and landing next to her.
"I was trying to think, wench."
"Ah," she said, ignoring the insult and smiling at him, "planning battle tactics for when the fight continues?"
Inu-Yasha merely smirked and resumed his earlier proud pose, "I don't need plans. I can beat them with half a brain and nothing but my desire to win."
"As I have seen. I'd invest in half of a brain anyway, if I were you. You need it; that way you can follow through on your boasting." She winked at him, and he childishly stuck his tongue out at her.
Kagome smiled at him, but it didn't reach her eyes as she warned him, "Just, be careful Inu-Yasha. Some of them are powerful even with no weapons and being half starved."
She patted him on the head before going to the river to set the fish traps for lunch, trusting Miroku to finish the breakfast of bacon and eggs she'd prepared.
"Did you know that palace guards are on their way to your home?" Inu-Yasha asked her as she kneeled by the riverbank.
"They are?" she asked, pausing for a moment to turn back to him, "How can you tell?"
"I saw 'em in the distance, and smelt them. They'll be here before the sun sets."
"Ah. I wonder why they'd be coming here." she wondered aloud, not intending for Inu-Yasha to answer her, but he did so anyway.
"They've probably got word that I'm staying here."
"Are you an outlaw?" she asked, almost sounding amused.
"Not really, but they hate me just as much." he answered simply.
"Any particular reason?"
"Yes."
Kagome sighed, still too tired to bother with the stubborn demi-youkai, and walked past him, calling out over her shoulder as she went into her house.
"If you're wondering, I'm not going to tell them you're here. You can leave, if you want, but it'd be nice if you stayed."
Inu-Yasha wanted to believe her, but he knew what was offered if he was brought to the castle. Kagome was human, and she wouldn't be able to resist.
After they'd had an early dinner of more fish, the guards knocked on Kagome's door, as promised by Inu-Yasha, just before the sun set. Kagome rose from her chair, laying the book she was reading on a table, and swung her cottage door open, to reveal two rather dumpy looking men on her doorstep.
She welcomed them in, asking politely what the castle could want with her.
"You are Lady Higurashi, are you not?" the taller of the two asked, green eyes glancing down at the scroll he held to check if he was at the right place.
"Ay, I am. What is needed?"
"On Lord Sesshomaru's orders, we have been sent here to see if a 'disgusting and filthy hanyou' by the name of Inu-Yasha has been staying here."
Kagome shook her head, smiling in apology, "I'm sorry, but it is only I and a monk I'm housing now."
The shorter one spoke this time, his eyes not visible through the masses of blonde shaggy hair that seemed to surround his head, "Are you absolutely sure of that, woman? The prince is offering at least fifty-thousand shells to the person who turns him in."
"Ah, fifty-thousand?" she asked, a little bit awed at the number, and wondering why so much would be offered for him if he was not an outlaw.
Inu-Yasha, from where he sat on the roof just behind her chimney, smirked. Surely the woman would give in at that-
"Well, it makes me wish I had been housing him!" she said amiably, causing the guards to chuckle a bit.
Or maybe not.
"Well, if you do happen to see him, I can assure you that the prince may be so grateful, he may just add a little bonus to the reward," The taller of the two looked down at the scroll, reading the information at the side of her name, "like that miko's practitioner's licence grant you've been asking The Registry for, hmm?"
Inu-Yasha could barely make out the sharp intake of breath Kagome had made, but he heard it none-the-less. He frowned, knowing how hard it was to get any sort of practioner's licence from The Registry, especially for a miko, since a legal practicing miko could run the town's main resource-well-trained kisai-out of money.
He decided he wouldn't be too mad at her when she gave in.
"Well, I'll be sure to be in contact with the palace if I happen to spot him. What's he look like?"
She nodded as they gave her a description of the man on top of her house, and bade farewell to them as they walked out of the door. They'd no sooner walked into the forest surrounding Kagome's house when Inu-Yasha burst in threw the door.
"You didn't turn me in." he said, stating the obvious.
"Of course not," Kagome answered, sitting back into her chair with her book, "I said I wouldn't, did I not? We're friends now, right Inu-Yasha? Friends wouldn't turn friends in."
Inu-Yasha waved his hands about wildly, "But they offered you a licence to legally practice your miko skills. You'll never get one now."
Kagome sighed, peering over at him, "If that's how it's gotta be. Besides, how can I send you away, when I still need something from you?"
Inu-Yasha snorted. Of course. She was a human, and humans were greedy, "Listen woman, I've got barely anything aside from the clothes on my back so I can't give you whatever it is you want."
"On the contrary. I want an explanation."
"Explanation?" Inu-Yasha repeated, as if the word was foreign to him.
"Yes. Here, Inu-Yasha, sit." she said, gesturing the chair across from her that had been filled with knitting supplies. Warily, he sat them next to the wall and sat in front of her.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she continued, "but I would like to know why a non-outlaw hanyou is staying in my house hiding from castle guards who are offering large sums of money for him."
Inu-Yasha regarded her, and sighed in defeat. He knew that he probably owed her that much, afterall.
Ah, I'm going to stop here. I know I made you guys wait a bit longer than usual, but that's due to the fact that I'm lazy. However, I have intentions of giving up on this fic, whether you like it or not. :P I'm sure it's a bit confusing, so lemme just tell you what's happened.
Inu-Yasha and Miroku have been with Kagome for about two days now. Miroku is just sort of there, and Inu-Yasha doesn't trust Kagome, though his instincts are telling him to. He obviously has some deep dark secret stopping him from this, and so he's ignoring it, until she shows her loyalty, as it were, to him by not turning him in.
Kagome is a nurse for their city, and she makes very little money. Fifty-thousand shells is a lot of money, and it's a lot more than she'll ever have at once in her lifetime. She wants to use her miko skills as a profession, however she can't do this legally without a licence, which our dear Sesshy has so kindly offered. Her saying no to the two things that could really help her out may not seem that big, but it is.
Also, Inu-Yasha is not an outlaw, because he's done nothing wrong. Therefore, the guards have no right to search her house, or hunt him down if he's not in the city. Inu-Yasha staying in the city means that they can track him down and bring him to the castle, but they can't legally harm him.
Whee. If anyone is confused about something, I'd be glad to explain, (which is appropriate, seeing as the next chapter is titled "Explanations") so don't hesitate to ask me anything. It's interesting watching people guess over who the final princess is. I'm pretty sure the majority of you are going to be a bit surprised, not only at who the princess is, but who she's going to end up with. Though, one wonders if the princess is the one you should be so worried about, or if it is in fact, the queen. Oh, I've said too much, haven't I? ^.~