Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of his friends, family, relatives or enemies. But the OC's are mine, please do not use them without my say-so.

Tempting Fate

Chapter 3: Welcome…Home?

"Kouga, put me down!" The arms around her merely tightened in reply. "Hey! I'm talking to you here!" He grinned down at her, never once slackening his pace.

"No, you're yelling at me. There's a difference."

"Why you – !"

Kagome spluttered ineffectually for a moment, then descended into a sulk. She could have 'stung' him with a jolt of her miko energy, but that would make him fall. And as he was carrying her at the time, it didn't seem like a good idea. Fuming, she resigned herself to being carted around until she had a chance to get away. 'After all, I never agreed to this crazy deal!'

A few minutes later, she was startled to find that her captor had been talking to her without her noticing. Berating herself silently, she started paying attention.

" – must be thirsty after all that yelling you were doing. We'll stop at the river for a bit and then I'll take you home." Kagome reacted to the kind gesture before she could stop herself. "Thank you."

'Idiot! He doesn't deserve good manners! Now he's going to think that you're okay with all this! Ooh, just wait until he lets me down – I'll show him what I really think of his stupid swap…"

Kouga couldn't believe his luck. That the inukkoro had actually accepted his proposal was a miracle in itself, given the naturally possessive temperament of youkai in general. 'Then again, he was plenty possessive earlier on,' he reflected ruefully, glancing down at the dried blood on his arm. He was looking forward to washing that stuff off when they reached the river. When the scent of water finally reached his nose, he gave a sigh of relief and headed straight for it. He wasn't really surprised that Kagome darted away from him as soon as he put her down. 'I'll just have to get her to trust me later on, that's all. She'll see that I'm not that ba – YOW!'

The astonished wolf youkai made a very impressive leap into the air, coming down lightly on all fours. His eyes were flashing around nervously, looking for the source of the unexpected attack. With one arm he motioned for Kagome to come over to him so that he could guard her properly against this unknown menace. He was stunned when she refused. "Dammit, Kagome, there's no time to be shy now! Something is out here and we have to get away. Now come on!"

"Oh, you mean something like this?" To emphasise her point, she flung one arm out at him just as another shooting pain hit him. When he landed once more, he gaped at her.

"You did that?"

"Of course."

"How come it hurt so much?!"

"You don't know much, do you? It's miko energy – purifying energy. Of course it hurts youkai!"

"Why did you use it on me?" he growled roughly. Her jaw fell open slightly in disbelief.

"You kidnapped me! Again! Why wouldn't I use it on you?" Kouga rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"So you can do that whenever you want?" She tossed her head proudly.

"Yes. So I suggest you take me back to Inuyasha right now, or I'll keep on doing it until you do!"

"I don't think so."

"WHAT?!"

"Look," he began. "Do you want the shards or not? If I take you back now, the deal is off and I won't hand them over. Would you rather that Inukkoro and I fought for them again? I might just kill him next time you know." Kagome started to look worried. "Of course, he could get lucky and kill me. Would you prefer that?"" She stepped back, stung.

"No! That is, I…" she faltered. Clenching her fists in frustration, she snapped, "I don't want anyone to get killed. What kind of a person do you think I am?" He smiled.

"Of course you don't want us to fight. After all, you always stopped the fights we had before. But I'm serious. If you insist on having me take you back, the shards stay with me. You really only have one choice – and that is to come with me and live with my tribe for two weeks," he stated arrogantly. "Then you'll see what it's really like to be my woman." She glared at him.

"I am NOT your woman!" He conveniently ignored this comment.

"So will you honour the agreement and come willingly?" She sighed.

"Yes." He grinned at her and stepped into the river to clean himself off. The scratches were already starting to heal, but that didn't mean that they were numb or anything. He couldn't stop himself from wincing as he scraped the dried mess off of his arm, jostling the injured limb slightly. Kagome glanced over at him, trying to act unconcerned. She knelt down to take a drink from the river – he noticed that she kept an eye on him all of the time. Finally she spoke again. "Does it hurt?"

"I've had worse," he shrugged. "But it doesn't exactly tickle. The inukkoro just got a lucky hit in, that's all." She sighed, but chose to ignore the typically self-confident remark.

"I'm sorry. I…" she trailed off uncertainly. "I didn't want that to happen." Her breath caught slightly when he looked up at her, his blue eyes glowing. He waded back to the shore, shaking the water off and picking her up again. "Thank you," he murmured gently. Kagome couldn't think of anything to say in reply. Suddenly she wasn't so sure that she would be able to keep disliking this guy for two weeks.

Inuyasha sat slumped against the trunk of a tree, fighting to catch his breath. He had run until he couldn't move any more, trying to outdistance himself from what had happened that day. The unthinkable had happened; he had let his Kagome leave with that annoying wimpy wolf. And why?

"I don't know why," he muttered despairingly. 'Bull,' that voice in his head piped up suddenly. 'You know exactly why.'

"Argh! Shut up already! Leave me alone! You've caused enough trouble for one day!" he snarled, clutching his head in an effort to shut the voice out. True, it didn't work; how can you send yourself away after all? But it felt better to think he could get rid of it.

It all came down to the shards, in the end. Didn't it always? Everything they had done up to this point had been focused on finding all of the remaining Shikon shards. Each and every battle (not counting a few brief side trips to help some unfortunate villagers out) had been a step on the road to finally completing the Shikon no tama. He was painfully aware that in the past he had let his quest for the jewel override anything else around him.

Just look at that mess with Kikyou. At least she was at peace now.

But it didn't change the fact that he had killed youkai without number; and not a few humans at some point as well. He had come very close to getting himself killed more times than he could count, and had somehow managed to wriggle his way out of more than one situation. But this was the first time that he really wished he could kick himself in the head for his stupidity.

He had finally found someone who could love him wholeheartedly, someone who he could love in return, given a chance. She forgave his every mistake, came back to him when he treated her like dirt, and accepted his hanyou heritage without question. And what did he do? He sent her away with his greatest (and most infuriating) rival for her affection in return for two measly shards. 'Even Jaken would be disgusted with me,' he thought glumly. In his own defence, it had seemed like a good idea at the time. But then, wasn't that always the case?

Okay, so he was willing to do just about anything for the Shikon shards. But for goodness' sake, 'just about anything' did not include giving away his intended mate! That was just stupid – what had he been thinking?!

And now Kouga had her. Unless Naraku himself were to turn up right now, his life could not get a whole lot worse. Without him to look out for her, that wolf might just try…something he shouldn't. He might not want to let her come back! "I'll have his scrawny hide if he backs out of his part of this deal," he muttered angrily.

'What if she doesn't want to come back? What if she wants to stay there?'

"Oh, hell no!' But then wasn't that part of the reason why he had agreed? Her eyes had looked – undecided. She had been curious about the wolf's idea…she hadn't immediately refused (loudly) like he had expected her to. She – his eyes grew wide as inspiration hit him – she had been waiting for his reply! And he had just turned her over, seemingly without a second thought! The way that had to have looked to her… "I am such an IDIOT!!" he roared into the sky.

What would happen during the two weeks that she was gone? He was grimly aware that the wolf, despite the brief nature of his 'visits' was nothing but nice to Kagome. And him?

'Sure, you've known her for two years – and for all but three weeks of that time you've been an absolute bastard. Face it dog-boy, you are in serious trouble.'

Inuyasha really wished that the voice (which seemed to take delight in torturing him) would just buzz off. 'Maybe having other people around would help.' He decided to go back to Kaede's village. As Kagome had sometimes said, "it's time to face the music".

In the absence of anything better to do, Shippo and Kohaku had resumed their 'sparring' while some curious villagers looked on. Sango and Miroku were seated side by side near their two companions, supposedly watching their progress. However, Miroku was all too aware that Sango was sitting as straight as a ramrod, her back stiff with anger. He sighed and laid one cautious hand on her shoulder.

"Sango?"

"I can't believe he let her go so easily," she gritted out at him. Miroku looked askance at her.

"I'm not sure he would say that it was easy – "

"He should have fought harder, not just given in!" she burst out angrily, throwing his hand off in a show of temper. "How dare he accept such an awful suggestion! And now poor Kagome-chan is stuck with a pack of wolves for two weeks, just so he can get his precious shards." Miroku did the only sensible thing that a man could do at such a time.

He agreed.

"I know, it was unfair of him to make such an agreement without Kagome-sama's consent. And it was foolish of him to treat her affection for him so carelessly." 'And it's two weeks that we could better use looking for Naraku again,' he thought morosely. He glared at his cursed hand, annoyed at the inevitable delay that Kagome's unexpected trip would cause. "But Kagome-sama has always been very forgiving of him in the past – perhaps she will let him off easy this time as well."

"If she does, I'll…I'll…I don't know what I'll do, but it won't be nice!" Sango snapped. Miroku just let out a chuckle and slipped his arm snugly around her waist. To his everlasting delight, she settled herself more comfortably in his grip and stayed there. He felt the irritation bleed out of her as she calmed down, sighing with satisfaction when her head fell to rest against his shoulder.

The couple sat like this for quite a while until the sound of rustling leaves caught the houshi's attention. Glancing up at the cause of the interruption, he bit back a curse. 'Now she'll get angry again…' A very subdued Inuyasha was coming towards them from the forest. They watched him as he walked across the clearing, not saying a word until he was beside them. An uncomfortable silence fell on the group, dragging on as nobody said anything. Finally, Sango spoke.

"If you're looking for some kind of welcome, you're out of luck. Be thankful we're letting you get this close." Miroku winced imperceptibly – an ice cold Sango was even worse than a raging one. She was glaring daggers at the hanyou for letting her friend be taken away like that. It didn't escape his attention that Inuyasha made no attempt to defend himself. Most unusual. He was about to speak up when a shrill screech had him reaching for his ears in protest. 'Owww…'

"Inuyasha! You moron! How could you do that, dog-breath?!" A transformed Shippo bit down on Inuyasha's ear with a vengeance. Miroku's concern rose a notch when he didn't even reach up to hit the pink, floating motormouth. 'He doesn't seem to care about anything – he's just taking it like it doesn't matter!' Kohaku arrived in a rush, looking wildly around him. His eyes fell on the sight of the kitsune child gnawing at the hanyou and sighed. "Sorry – I couldn't catch him in time. He just started yelling and ran right over here before I knew what was going on."

Inuyasha didn't even look up. "It's okay, kid, it's not like he can actually hurt me or anything…"

This quiet, melancholy Inuyasha was beginning to get on Miroku's nerves. It wasn't that the hanyou didn't deserve to be upset – he did, and he brought it on himself! But this was beyond ridiculous. Sango refused to even look in his direction any more, and Shippo was generally making a nuisance of himself. His comments carried on and on until Kaede called them in for dinner. The unusually quiet group of shard hunters endured the meal valiantly, but it was obvious that Inuyasha wasn't going to start talking anytime soon. It was up to them to break the ice.

"Do you think the wolf youkai will honour his word, Inuyasha?" Kaede asked carefully. For the first time that evening Inuyasha raised his eyes to face his friends directly. He pointed his gaze at Kaede and answered, "I don't know. But if he doesn't, he'll get to find out what the afterlife is like." Sango looked like she might like to say something at that, but Shippo beat her to it.

"Oh, I don't know – I think he could beat you easily. Then you'd find out what the afterlife is like, wouldn't you?" Everyone looked at him, aghast. From practically hero-worshipping the hanyou, to this ridicule? 'How the mighty have fallen,' mused Miroku sadly. Inuyasha, for his part, seemed to have taken the comment somewhat to heart. He glared straight at the kitsune cub and growled.

"What did you say?"

"I think he could beat you," Shippo stated slowly, crossing his arms in a huff. "You're so weak, he could slice you to bits before you even knew he was there!" Inuyasha suddenly lunged at him, cursing when his tormentor dashed away to the other side of the hut to safety. "Ha! You missed! Why would Kagome want such a weak protector anyway?" He dodged another attempted strike from his enraged victim, opening his mouth to issue another taunt. However, all that came out were indignant squawks as Kohaku wrapped a hand around his mouth and picked him up, striding towards the door. Apparently the boy felt that such blatant opposition was not helping the situation any. Once he had disappeared with his squirming bundle tucked under his arm, the adults sat in silence for a few moments.

"I don't suppose you would care to explain what happened today, Inuyasha?" The hanyou groaned.

"Not really, no. But you're not going to leave me alone until I do, are you?" As one the group shook their heads at him. He sighed. "Feh. Alright, then – here's what happened…"

Kohaku shook his head at the shouting that was coming from the hut some time later. Shippo just glared at him from where he was tied up in the chain from the boy's blade. Petting Kirara (who had wandered away to relative safety once the explanations got a bit heated) he murmured, "I don't know if I'll ever understand what those people do." Kirara just looked at him and purred.

As they made their way over the last rise, Kouga grinned at Kagome in anticipation. "Well, Kagome, do you recognise this place?" She looked around her, squinting in the falling dusk.

"I think so. Didn't we fight the gokurakuchou up there?" She pointed up at the cliff. He nodded.

"Yes, that was the place. Now look over to your left." Kagome did as she was told and gasped. Apparently they were still a short distance from the tribe, and the glow of various fires shone brightly in the growing darkness. It was a very homely sight, and not exactly what she had expected. In fact, the scene could definitely be called 'beautiful'.

"Welcome home, Kagome," Kouga murmured. She didn't have the heart to tell him off for his statement right then, so she let it slide. She would remember it later, she told herself. Kouga set off once more at a run, bearing her quickly to the mouth of the system of caves that his tribe inhabited. Once they had reached the light, he let her slide off. Curious stares met their arrival. Kagome stood rather awkwardly for a few moments before hearing some very familiar voices.

"Kagome-nee-chan! You came?"

"Onee-chan!" She giggled.

"Hakkaku! Ginta! How are you? It's so unusual not to see you trying to catch up to Speedy Gonzales here!" They looked a little confused at this remark, but chose to ignore it for fear of looking silly in front of their beloved 'onee-chan'. They were trying to decide on something (smart) to say when Kouga stepped up to stand beside her. "Kagome will be staying with us for a while, so make her feel welcome, all of you. She is my special guest and is to be treated accordingly." Kagome couldn't help but gape a little at this short speech. In all his appearances before, he had never sounded quite so, well, in-charge. She decided that giving orders suited him much better than yelling insults.

Kouga motioned for her to sit by the fire and was about to join her when a harried-looking youkai raced up to him, skidding to a stop in a cloud of dust. At the whispered message that the newcomer gave him, Kouga frowned and nodded. "Kagome, I am sorry but something needs my attention. Will you be alright here until I get back?" Slightly taken aback, she nodded. "Good. Mizumi?" he called. A short distance away a young female youkai looked up. "Look after Kagome for me. I'll be back soon." With that he quickly made his way out of the den and into the night. 'Heh. He's always leaving me with someone else so they'll look after me,' she thought amusedly. As she watched the wolf called Mizumi come over to her, her eyes widened in sudden horror. 'Gah! What am I doing? I'm actually liking this? No! That's not what's supposed to happen! I'm supposed to be mad at Kouga, and I can't wait to get back home. Yes, that's what I should be doing.'

Mizumi walked over to the new female curiously. What was she doing with Kouga anyway? She was a human! Well, she looked friendly enough, if a little unsure of herself at the moment. She plonked herself down on the ground next to the girl and beamed. "Hiya! My name's Mizumi, and you're Kagome, aren't you? How long are you staying here? In a little bit I'll introduce you to the other females of the tribe, but first we'll just sit here for a while. So where do you come from?"

Kagome blinked at the sudden barrage of questions, then grinned. 'This is just like being back home with my friends! They never shut up either.' She was about to answer when Ginta interrupted, looking slightly horrified. "Mizumi! You should be more respectful – Kagome-nee-chan is Kouga's woman! Treat her as you would treat the alpha female, because that is what she will be one day." He nodded as he spoke, trying to convey the importance of what he was saying. Kagome rolled her eyes. "I am not his woman! Would you please get that settled before you do anything else?" Ginta just looked confused and shuffled away, with a last 'be respectful!' thrown in. Mizumi on the other hand looked amused at the whole situation. "Ha. If you're Kouga's woman he shouldn't be running off so fast as soon as you get here. That's just rude!"

Kagome had no choice but to agree with that. It looked as though the next two weeks were going to be very interesting, if Mizumi's attitude was going to go by. This might just be fun after all!

Well, things are getting interesting! And Mizumi will keep it that way – I love that wolf, and you will too. Is Kagome liking her impromptu stay a little too much? Hmm.

Next Chapter: New Possibilities

Reviewer replies from Chapter 2: A Hard Bargain

Aamalie: Kouga with a rosary? Lol! That would be an idea, wouldn't it? Sorry, not this time.

HMPrune: Yeah, from Inu's point of view this ain't so hot, but wait and see. *smiles mysteriously* Oh, yes, wait and see. I'm glad I have your attention.

Lady Tiger Lily: I like your name! Anyway, things may get interesting, but if you read my other fics there is a definite I/K trend that should give you a hint. Ahem. Glad you like it!

Murasaki Kitsune: Hey, don't blame me, blame Sango! She's the one who hits him so often. And if you think Inuyasha's got it bad now, just wait until later! *rubs hands together* Inu-torture! Mmm.

Momentum: Seeing Kouga in a different light is what this is all about. And things are just getting started – but he's still the arrogant, slightly self-absorbed nut we all know still. Wouldn't be Kouga if he wasn't, would he?

Fairyangel24: Thank you! *curtsies*

Chibi: Ah, you found Under Control on the fansite? Thanks for reading mine, there're so many to choose from there! Hope you keep reading…even if it's not mainly S/M this time…

Akaro: I can't say I agree with you about Kagome…oh well. Yes, it's I/K – but that's all I'll say about it for now.

Jessica T It's Me: Hello again! Such nice long reviews…bliss! (Take the hint guys, we like long reviews!) I'm glad you like the idea, I love it! I am sooo going to mess with Inuyasha's head, it's not funny. And of course, Kagome and Kouga will be trying to work things out on his side – hoo boy.

Darkinuyasha: I will!

Stripe: 'Something bad'? Oooh….Nyah, there's not much you can do to me, I'm all the way in Australia! Oh, wait – don't fry my computer…

ShadowHeart: (from ch 1) Glad you like the beginning – Kouga has a HUGE part in this…

ShadowHeart: Funny or depressing? Hmm. Would you go for a combination of both? More interesting than Under Control? Whoa. And it will be longer! I have the outline right here. *waves pieces of paper around* And no, you can't look! That's cheating. I like I/K as well, check out the big line of capital letters at the start of chapter 1. Bye!

Don't forget, all reviews get replies, and leave your email address if you want to be told when new chapters are up on the site. Bye for now!