Chapter Seven

"I appreciated the martial arts lesson," Kagome announced to Sango as she sat down beside the girl in the diningroom, "but I don't think my poor legs will heal for a month!"

Sango laughed lightly and spared a sympathetic look for the miko.

"Keh! Weakling." Inuyasha strode over to sit beside Miroku, who placed his hand on the floor mat, preventing Inuyasha from taking the seat. With a glare, Inuyasha surveyed the room and found only two other place settings: one on Kagome's left and the other on Sesshoumaru's right.

"This seat is reserved for Jaken," Sesshoumaru informed his hanyou brother. "We have business to discuss. Go sit beside your mate."

"Quiet, Baka!" Resigned to his fate, Inuyasha plopped down beside the girl and made great effort to avoid looking at her. He felt the now familiar ache forming in his stomach and making its way south. Miroku might have to intervene yet, he thought ruefully.

Sensing tension between the well-meaning hanyou and the naïve young woman, Sango picked up the conversation again. "We often trained much longer when I was a young girl. Just about everything we did in my village was related to demon--" she caught herself and amended the sentence, "to our occupation."

"Other than archery, the most strenuous activity I've ever done is tennis," Kagome offered. "Tennis practice lasted two hours when we were training for competition, but usually it was just an hour three days a week."

"What's tennis?" The taijiya found great interest Kagome's world.

Kagome smiled, remembering her triumph in the junior tournament four years before. It was right before her father had died… "It's a game," she answered quickly, staving off the sadness memories of her father often resurrected. "A small ball this big," she made a fist, "is hit between two people over a net with an object called a racquet. Next time I go home I'll bring my old gear and I can teach you, if you'd like."

Inuyasha snorted, listening to the conversation as food was placed before them. "That's not a sport. Hitting a ball. Keh! No wonder so many people in your world are fat. They take those auto-mo-beel things everywhere, can't even be bothered to carry their own weight. I think your people would die off in a week if they had to live here."

"I survived," Kagome pointed out proudly.

"Please, only because I carry you on my back and come running every time you call, 'Inuyasha, save me!'" he finished the sentence with a horrible falsetto in imitation of Kagome.

She did not find this amusing.

"Kami, I don't know why I even bother to acknowledge you. Lately Inuyasha, you've been an even bigger ass than normal." With a huff she turned back to Sango, trying hard to hide the tears that desperately wanted to fall. "At least someone has nice things to say to me," she said loudly so that Inuyasha was sure to pay attention.

"Another haiku?" Sango saw her chance to soothe the demon and she wasn't going to waste it.

Stars took residence in Kagome's eyes, replacing the shimmering tears Inuyasha's words had evoked. "Yes, another one. I think he's trying to tell me a story." She took the parchment from her kimono and handed it to Sango.

Relieved that it wasn't a reincarnation of the hentai poem Miroku had written, she began to read it to herself. "Yes, there does seem to be a theme here. What do you make of it?"

"It's about summer time," Kagome explained with certainty.

"Yes, but haiku given in this manner usually have a second meaning." She looked at the words again and sought an explanation that wouldn't embarrass the hanyou sitting mere feet away. A hanyou who, she noted, was listening to their conversation with rapt attention.

"The previous haiku was about protection," she began at last. "This one seems to suggest that your having accepted the cherry tree's protection and the warmth of love -- the sun -- freed him to feel his love for the first time."

Kagome swooned. "I like that meaning much more than what I came up with." Then she paused and a slight frown of confusion made its way to her face. "Wait a minute. Who's protection and love have I accepted? The only men I know here are Miroku and Inuyasha. Possibly Sesshoumaru." She chuckled at the thought that entered her mind before voicing it. "I suppose Sesshoumaru would be more likely than certain OTHER inuyoukai to write something so beautiful."

Inuyasha audibly gulped. Sango cleared her throat to keep Kagome from questioning him and added in her own opinion. "It could be a prediction," she lied. "Maybe your admirer is telling you that he will be happy if you return his love."

"I just wish I knew who he was," Kagome sighed sadly. I wish he were Inuyasha, she thought to herself.

The subject of her longing stood abruptly from his dinner and bowed to Sesshoumaru and his companions. "Excuse me, I need some time to myself." Without waiting for a reply, he dashed out the dining room and made his way to the privacy of his quarters.

"What was that about?" Miroku glanced at Sango who simply shrugged.

Kagome checked to see if Sesshoumaru was listening before leaning in to her friends. "There's a new moon tonight," she explained, pointing to the setting sun. "I guess he hasn't told his brother that little secret yet."

Safely inside the privacy of his room, Inuyasha plopped down to the futon in the back corner and listened to the many warring voices in his head.

"I suppose Sesshoumaru would be more likely than certain OTHER inuyoukai to write something so beautiful.."

From her perspective, she was right. He'd never given her any indication that he was educated, and his behavior over the last few days -- even the last few weeks -- would suggest he saw her as little more than an annoying necessity.

He wanted to tell her. Everything. How much he loved her, longed for her, needed to be with her. He wanted to reveal himself as the secret admirer she appeared to find quite appealing. But the look in her eyes these last two days… so full of life and happiness. Would that light disappear when he shattered her fantasies of romance and intrigue? Would Kagome find the reality sufficient, or would he fall too far short of her dreams?

Inuyasha felt the first stirrings of change in his body. At least in his human form he was in no danger of hurting her. For one blessed night he might actually sleep without the fevered dreams of her scent and pliable body molding to him, fitting in all the right places as meant by nature.

Minutes passed and the transformation completed. For the first time in weeks he felt his blood calm and was at peace. A much needed sleep began to claim him as Inuyasha pulled the coverlet of his futon over his body and allowed his eyes to close.

* * * * *

Kagome paused as she and Sango passed Inuyasha's room. "You know, he did leave awfully fast at dinner."

"Yes, because of the new moon, right?"

"No…" the young miko reached out to touch the door lightly, as though it were Inuyasha himself. "If he were really that worried he wouldn't have come to dinner at all. Something must really be bothering him." She turned suddenly from the door and faced Sango. "He's been particularly mean lately, hasn't he?"

"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

Raising an eyebrow, Kagome fixed Sango with a disbelieving stare. "Really? So you haven't noticed how he's been picking on me about every little thing? It's almost like he WANTS me to cry."

Sango finally nodded her head in slow agreement. "I suppose he has been a little -- harsh -- lately. He's probably just under a lot of stress. This is a big change for him, you know. Plus, Shippou is with Kaede, so he can't really beat up on the fox as he normally does."

Kagome seemed to accept the explanation, to Sango's immense relief. "I suppose you're right. I should try to be more understanding."

"Don't worry," the taijiya comforted as they began to walk down the hall again, "I'm sure this will all be resolved soon."