* * *
Chapter Four - Tickle BattleKagome sighed, holding her aching head. They never stop, do they? She thought, looking out of the window to see that the sun was about to set.
She and her friends, Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi, were at their hangout, Wacdonalds. They had been there for quite some time now, and Kagome was about to get on her knees and beg to be allowed to go home.
"I can't believe that violent, selfish, guy proposed to you!" Eri said for the thousandth time.
"And you accepted?!" Yuka exclaimed, as if saying it over and over again would make reality change in some way.
"I think it's wonderful," Ayumi said dreamily. "I knew you loved him when you first told us about him, Kagome-chan."
"But why do you have to leave?" Yuka demanded. "Can't the violent guy wait until you're out of school?"
"You don't understand," Kagome said for the millionth time. "He doesn't live here. He lives…very far away, and they have a completely different way of living. Where he lives, there are girls younger than me who are mothers already!"
"Kagome-chan!" Eri gasped. "You…you're not pregnant, are you?!"
Kagome turned beet red. "Eri-chan! Of course I'm not pregnant! We haven't…that is…well, you know!"
"But you will, if you let him control you like this," Yuka told her. It was then that Kagome lost her last shred of patience.
"Inuyasha is not like that!" she yelled. "He may not be the most sensitive guy, but he would never take advantage of me! Stop accusing him of stupid things when you don't even know him!"
The three girls silently stared in shock as Kagome's outburst ended. The girl sat, breathing heavily, as she waited for their reactions.
"You…you really do love him, don't you?" Eri asked finally. Exhausted, Kagome closed her eyes.
"If I didn't, I wouldn't be leaving everything to go live with him in a completely different place," Kagome said. "When he's around, I feel safe. He doesn't let anything hurt me, and would never do anything bad to me. Of course I love him. And I know…I know now that he loves me."
Her friends didn't say anything, and slowly, Kagome stood. "I need to go home now. He's probably wondering where I am."
Eri gasped. "He's at your house?"
"He's visiting right now," she said. "We'll be going back to his home soon. And I'll be staying there."
Kagome then left the restaurant, leaving her friends speechless.
* * *
"I'm home," Kagome's voice rang through the house as she slid the door shut and pulled off her shoes. She walked up to her bedroom, and was surprised when Inuyasha emerged from the room to greet her on her way there.
"What are you doing, hiding out up here?" she asked, walking in to drop off her stuff. He followed her back in.
"Escaping uncomfortable conversations," he muttered. "When are we going back?"
She sighed. "I guess anytime you want is fine. Let's at least spend one more night here before we go."
"Hmph; fine."
Inuyasha plopped onto the floor with his legs crossed, and leaned back against her bedroom door. She looked down at him in amusement.
"Yasha-chan, can I please get to the door?"
"Kagome!" he exclaimed heatedly. "You left me here all day at the mercy of your family, and now that you're home you won't even spend five minutes with me! What's up with that?"
She rolled her eyes, and then sat on her bed. "Alright, alright. We can stay in here."
"Good." He rose to his feet and was soon plopped down next to her. Hesitating a moment before deciding to be brave, he lay down and rested his head in her lap. Her eyes widened at the sudden display of affection, and then she smiled.
"The last time you did this, you were a human," she said, remembering the first time she'd ever seen him in his human form. He closed his eyes and she could tell he was very relaxed, just lying there.
Kagome stared at his face adoringly, wishing he was always this sweet. She ran her fingers through a bit of his hair, and then began to experimentally rub one of his ears, the way she would when she petted her cat, Buyo.
Inuyasha's eyes cracked open as soon as her fingers touched his ear, and there was a momentary look of annoyance. "What is it with you people and my ears?" he muttered.
"If you don't like it, I'll stop," she said. His eyes closed again, and he tilted his head more towards her.
"Do as you like," he said. So she continued to rub his ear, and after a while moved to the other one. They felt so silky and soft, and Kagome could tell by the weight of his head in her lap that he was falling asleep.
She began to rub at the base of his ear, and when she did, he smiled slightly, and the ear twitched. Grinning, she continued, and soon to her amusement one of his feet began to twitch. She rubbed the base of both ears at once, and his foot twitched more. Just like a real dog, she thought, giggling.
Inuyasha's face grew annoyed, and his eyes opened. "Oh stop that," he finally said. "You have no idea how irritating that is."
"What, this?" she teased, and rubbed harder, causing his foot to twitch even more. With a snort of disgust, he rolled out of her lap and off of the bed, making a loud thunk as he hit the floor. Unable to help herself, Kagome began to laugh, and Inuyasha sat up and began to growl playfully. He then pounced on her, and she shrieked as she found herself being tickled.
"How do you like it, eh?" he said haughtily, pinning her down to tickle her.
"Inuyasha…stop!" she barely managed to say. After a moment, he let her up, and sat beside her on her bed.
"I have something for you," he said after a moment. Curious, Kagome watched as he pulled something out of his pocket. She gasped as he held the ring out to her.
"For you to wear," he told her. "So everyone will know you're going to be mine."
Awestruck, she slid the ring on her finger, admiring the design on it. "Yasha-chan, it's beautiful."
"This is from the human me," he said. She gave him a strange look.
"What do you mean?"
"Youkai and humans claim their partners differently. Since you're human, and I'm a hanyou, we'll do it the human way, but I still must claim you as a youkai would, or else other youkai won't recognize you as mine. But I won't do that to you until you are mine."
"What is it that you have to do?" Kagome asked, suddenly slightly uneasy. It was just as well, for he was the same way.
"I'll put a mark of my blood on you, so you smell of me. It may hurt a little, because I have to break the skin, but I'll do it with my claws, and I'll make it quick. It's the way all youkai claim their partners."
"Oh…" she looked down. "Where do you mark me?"
He gently ran a claw across the side of her neck, careful not to cut her. Throughout the entire conversation so far, his face had been beet red with embarrassment. "Here. That way it's a visible mark, so everyone will know you're mine."
Suddenly tired, Kagome yawned. "Um, Yasha-chan, I think I want to take a nap. Will you wake me up when dinner's ready?"
"Um…ok, sure." She started to lie down, and then realized he was still sitting on her bed.
"Um, Yasha-chan? Do you think you could move so I can lay down?"
In response, the hanyou pushed himself further onto the bed, sitting with his back against the wall. "No."
"Inuyasha…"
"You can still sleep."
Sighing in defeat, she turned around and laid her head in his lap, earning a very wide-eyed look from the hanyou. He shifted slightly to make her more comfortable, and then let his body go into a relaxed state.
"Don't forget to wake me up, Yasha-chan," she said sleepily.
"I won't," he replied, and then, with a slight grin and flushed cheeks, added, "Kagome-chan."
