Inuyasha knew as he drew close to where his brother resided. The air was thick with his scent and that of the little girl that he had taken as his ward. He had his doubts that Sesshomaru would help him, but subtle changes had taken place over the last year that gave Inuyasha a shred of hope. Besides he couldn't live with himself if he didn't at least try.
Inuyasha first came upon Rin. She was gathering flowers. She had grown quite a lot since Sesshomaru had first revived her. Though still not close to reaching the age of a woman, traces of her future beauty were now evident in her face and manner. She looked up without fear at his approach. He supposed that came with being under the protection of one of the most powerful demons still living.
"Hello." she called. "My Lord is expecting you. He told me to ask you to wait here until he returns." That's new, Inuyasha thought. Since when does my brother ask for anything. Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought. Inuyasha made himself comfortable as he sat leaning against a tree. "How is Kagome? I heard she was injured. She was so nice to me. I expect I'll be seeing her again soon."
Inuyasha saw that Rin knew something he didn't. How else could she know such a thing? "She's fine." He said. "How did Sesshomaru know that I would be coming?" Inuyasha asked.
"I don't know. He went to take care of some wolves, who were overstepping their bounds and when he returned he told me these things." Rin replied.
Could he have been there when those wolves attacked? He hadn't thought to ask who stopped the wolf that jumped on Kagome. Before he had time to think about it any longer, Rin stopped gathering flowers and stood straight up. Inuyasha knew why. Sesshomaru was coming.
Inuyasha came to his feet as his brother stepped out of the trees and approached them from the west. "You've finally arrived." he said. "I had almost given up, thinking I had been mistaken in my assumption at what I had witnessed."
Inuyasha had to bite back the remark on his tongue. It was in his best interest to remain civil with his brother. "What assumption was that?" Inuyasha asked.
"Rin, your dinner is waiting. Go now before it gets cold." Sesshomaru said.
"Yes my Lord." Rin replied. The young girl left.
Inuyasha was about to ask again when Sesshomaru spoke. "That you wish the Miko to be your mate." he said.
"How?" Inuyasha managed to ask.
"I was there when the wolves attacked. I saw how you acted toward her as a full youkai." Sesshomaru told him.
"It was you that protected Kagome." Inuyasha said.
"Yes. I have thought for quite sometime that you might choose this Miko of yours. When you foolishly dropped your sword to go to her I knew. It was my duty as your brother to protect her." Sesshomaru replied.
"I don't understand. Not long ago you would have killed me, and now you are helping me. Why?" Inuyasha asked.
"We are the last." Sesshomaru said. "Things have changed. There are no other Inu Youkai. It is our duty to our father to carry on our line. Even I who despised you for being hanyou, will have to accept things cannot be as they were. When I find a mate my children will not be Inu Youkai even if she is a full demon. Father loved a human woman as do you, maybe it is I who was wrong. Your Miko showed strength and courage equal to any youkai on the day Naraku was destroyed, and you a hanyou defeated the demon who killed our father. It has been difficult coming to accept these things."
Inuyasha just stared at the man before him. Could his brother really have changed this much? "Rin, wouldn't have anything to do with this would she?" he asked.
Inuyahsa's eyes opened wide as he witnessed something he had never before seen. His brothers always impassive expression changed. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly in what could only be called a smile. "Perhaps. Now I believe you have some questions." Sesshomaru said. "I don't pretend that this will not be difficult for both of us, but it must be done."
"What do I need to know?" Inuyasha asked.
The next morning Inuyasha left his brother to return to the village. Sesshomaru had explained to him what was necessary to mark her as is mate, and beyond that what he would need to do if he wished to extend her life to match his own, beyond that of a normal human. Thankfully, he had not seen it necessary to explain the consummating act. He simply said that instinct should take care of that part.
There was so much he hadn't known. It was going to harder than he thought. Simply telling her was not enough. He didn't know if he would have the courage.
Miroku was waiting for him when he returned. "Where have you been?" he asked.
Inuyasha was taken aback by the tone of anger in his voice. "None of your business monk." Inuyasha replied.
"Kagome has been calling for you." Miroku told him.
"She's awake?" Inuyasha asked.
"No. When we tell her you are gone she cries. Before we have been able to console her, but not for the last hour." Miroku said.
Inuyasha pushed past Miroku and raced into the hut. Kagome was crying as Sango tried to calm her. "Thank Kami you're here at last." Sango said.
"Inuyasha." Kagome called. Her tears stopped.
He knelt beside her. He wanted to take her hand, but not with Sango watching. "I'm here." he said.
Kagome turned toward his voice and opened her eyes. She sat up and threw his arms around him. Sango looked away as he blushed bright red. She stood and left the hut. "I dreamt that you were gone, that Kikyou had taken you with her. I called, but you didn't come." she cried.
Now that they were alone, he put his arms around her. "I'm not going anywhere, baka wench." he said softly.
Despite what he said, the tenderness in his voice calmed her. Reluctantly he released her and she let her arms fall from his shoulders. "Where were you?" she asked.
"I had to go see Sesshomaru." Inuyasha said. "I needed some answers."
Kagome could tell that he wasn't ready to tell her what they talked about, so she simply nodded. "I'm starved." she said changing the subject. "Could you make some food while I go take a bath?"
"Just woke up and already ordering me around." Inuyasha grumbled. "I guess, since you were injured, but don't get used to it."
Kagome smiled. She could tell by his tone that he didn't really mean it. Outside she was greeted by a hug from Shippou, followed by Sango and Miroku. Sango agreed to go with her to the springs. When she returned, she found Inuyasha just finishing her meal, and it smelled wonderful. She found out that it tasted better than it smelled.
After eating Kagome had wanted to go for a walk and stretch her legs. Inuyasha went with her on the pretense that he had to protect her. His real desire was to spent time with Kagome alone.
They were standing under the sacred tree when Inuyasha's hand went to his sword. "What is it?" Kagome asked.
"That filthy fucking wolf is coming." Inuyasha growled.
Before long Kouga was standing in front of them smiling at Kagome. "Kagome how wonderful to see you well. I heard you were attacked by those rogue wolves." Kouga said reaching for her hand.
"Don't you touch her." Inuyasha yelled.
"I don't see your mark on her dog shit, so I'll do what I please." Kouga taunted.
"Inuyasha." Kagome said in warning. He backed down a little, but left his hand on Tetsusiaga. "I knew those wolves couldn't have been acting on your orders."
"They left the pack, what's left of it anyway." Kagome heard the sadness in his voice. "I was going to take care of them myself but, mutt face beat me to it." Kouga told her, this time managing to grab her hand.
Kagome heard the distinctive ring of Inuyasha drawing his sword. "Inuyasha SIT" she said. Kouga started to laugh. "You better go. I won't do that again."
"Very well, but I'll be back." Kouga replied before leaving in the direction that he came.
Inuyasha stood once the command wore off. He didn't even look at her as he walked away. Baka, Kagome, she thought. She ran to catch him. "Inuyasha wait, please." she pleaded.
He stopped walking but didn't turn around. "What? One sit wasn't enough." he asked.
Kagome winced. She had really hurt his feelings. Maybe she was always taking Kouga's side."No." she replied. "It was too many. I'm sorry." At last he turned. His expression was unreadable. "I just didn't want Kouga to get hurt, after he helped us defeat Naraku." Kagome reached up to remove the beads.
He put his hands over hers, stopping her. "Don't." he said softly.
"You haven't needed these for a long time." She said.
"I could still hurt you." he replied.
"I trust you Inuyasha." she told him.
"But I don't trust myself." he said.
"Well, then I won't use them anymore." Kagome replied.
"Yes you will." he smirked. "I think you should go home."
He was surprised by her reaction. She looked hurt. "Fine." She turned her back on him.
"Kagome don't be mad. I thought you might like to see your family. I was going to offer to go with you." Inuyasha said quickly.
She turned back around. "Oh. I guess it would be nice to see mama and Souta." Kagome smiled. "Let's go tell the other and then we can leave."
On the way back Kagome thought about how Inuyasha had been acting. He usually hated to go to her time. There had also been something different about his reaction to Kouga. On the surface it had seemed the same, but she sensed a change. She also wondered why he would willingly go see Sesshomaru. It was true they had stopped trying to kill each other, but they were far from being friends.
Shippou was a little disappointed that Kagome was leaving so soon, but the promise of candy quickly brightened his mood. Sango and Miroku were slightly suspicious, but let it pass without comment.
When they reached Kagome's time, Kagome was saddened to find that her family had gone to visit a relative and wouldn't be back for several days. "Let's go." she sighed.
"We could stay if you want." Inuyasha offered.
Kagome stared at him, not trying to hide her confusion. "All right. What is going on?" Kagome asked.
"Nothing." Inuyasha said a little too quickly. "You were hurt. I thought you might like to sleep in your own bed and finish getting better, You're safer here."
That's when she understood. He felt guilty about her getting hurt. "It would be nice." she said. "But we don't have to."
"Baka woman." Inuyasha grumbled. "Don't argue. Besides maybe we could go to another movie." He added casually.
Kagome's eyes opened wide. Did Inuyasha just ask her on a date? Surely he couldn't have, but he did seem to be waiting for an answer. "That could be fun." she said at last. Kagome turned to go up to her room and behind her Inuyasha smiled. He followed her up the stairs.
"Here." she said holding out some clothes for him to wear. "You can take a shower while I decide what to wear."
"You trying to say I stink?" Inuyasha asked.
"No." Kagome replied. "Don't be so touchy."
"Keh." came his replied as he headed for the bathroom.
It took a few tries, but he soon got the water to a suitable temperature. He leaned his head against the wall and let the water run down his back. He was thinking about spending time alone with Kagome. He wasn't as anxious as last time, but he was still nervous that he might mess things up. He wished he could just come out and tell her how much he cared for her.
He was just turning off the water, when he heard Kagome scream. He jumped out of the shower and grabbed the closest thing at hand, which was a towel. He ran to her room and threw open the door ready to attack.
"What is it?' he asked surveying the room. Kagome looked at Inuyasha. He was dripping wet and wearing only a towel around his waist. Her own thoughts made her blush. Kami, he's gorgeous. He looked amazing. She found her self wanting to go to him and run her hands across his well formed chest. "Well." he prompted.
Kagome looked back toward her desk. "There was a spider." she said softly, with embarassment.
He looked at her in disbelief. Inuyasha walked over to the desk. Sure enough there was a small spider crawling across one of Kagome's books. He opened the window and set it outside. "Baka wench." he grumbled. "I thought you were in trouble."
Kagome was staring at him again. She had been surprised by his gesture. Inuyasha who always rushed into battle with his sword drawn, had taken the time to set a spider outside. Inuyasha saw the look on her face and only them did he realize he was only in a towel. He blushed furiously and walked back to the bathroom.
As Inuyasha dressed Kagome thought about what had just happened. Normally he would have yelled at her for screaming over nothing, but she had a feeling that he hadn't really been upset at all. More and more lately it seemed that his grumbling reprimands were done out of habit, with no real feeling behind them. Kagome smiled. Yes, something really is different about Inuyasha.
Fully clothed, Inuyasha came back into her room. "Go take your shower, so we can go already." he said.
"So now I'm the one who stinks." she teased.
"No, you smell nice." he said softly.
Inuyasha is full of surprises today, she thought. "I won't be long." she told him.
"Keh." he replied.
He was waiting for her downstairs. She noticed he was holding a hat, cursing at it. "We don't have to go anywhere." she said. "I know you hate wearing a hat."
He pulled the hat on covering his ears. "Let's go." he replied.
Inuyasha wasn't quite brave enough to take her hand as they walked down the crowded street. He settled for walking as close to her as possible, letting their arms brush together occasionally. They arrived at the theater and much to his dismay they were immediately swarmed by all three of Kagome's best friends.
"Kagome, we haven't seen you in so long." Eri said.
"Hojou told us that he called you, but some crazy guy answered the phone." Yuka said, eyeing Inuyasha who had started growling.
Kagome took his hand and he quieted "That was just Inuyasha. He's really protective of me." she told them.
"How long have you been dating. Yuka said she saw you two here together weeks ago." Ayumi asked.
"Well..." Kagome started, not knowing how to answer.
"A while." Inuyasha said with a growl.
Kagome stared at him. "What about Hojou?" Yuka asked. "He sure is a lot nicer, and not a two timer."
Inuyasha started to growl again. "I told you before, I never wanted to go out with Hojou." Kagome said. "We have to go now."
"See you later Kagome." Eri said.
"Bye." Kagome replied walking away, and dragging Inuyasha with her.
Kagome went to buy the tickets. Inuyasha stood a few feet away leaning against a wall the his arms folded. He had a deep scowl on his face. Baka, he thought. What, did you expect she wouldn't tell her friends about you running off to Kikyou.? At least she said she didn't like that wimpy Hobo.
Kagome rejoined him. "What's the matter, Inuyasha?" she asked.
"Nothing." he said, with more anger in his voice than he had intended.
"Maybe we should just go." she said softly.
Baka can't you do anything right, he asked himself. Now she's going to cry. "We're already here. We should stay." he said. "I want to stay."
Kagome looked up at him. "All right." she replied.
They went inside and sat down. "I wasn't mad at you." he whispered.
"I'm sorry about my friends..." she started.
"Whatever. Forget about it." He told her.
The lights went down and the movie started. Inuyasha wasn't sure what to do. She might not want him to put his arm around her after he had upset her earlier. After about fifteen minutes he felt her rest he head on his shoulder. She's not mad at me he realized, with a smile. He reached over and put his arm across the back of her chair. She looked at him and smiled.
Once again he spent very little time watching the movie, preferring to watch Kagome. When the movie was over, he didn't wait to take her hand. They walked back to the shrine and went inside. As soon as they got inside, he took the hat of. His ears always felt funny after he wore a hat.
He sat on the sofa and they started twitching as he tried to get rid of the feeling the hat had caused. Kagome walked up behind him. She wanted so badly to touch his ears. She reached out to rub them, sure that he would pull away.
Inuyasha felt Kagome's fingers on his ear. He forced himself to sit still, to show her that he trusted her. When he didn't pull away or tell her to stop, she started rubbing the other one as well. He was surprised how good it felt, when he just relaxed and let her do it.
Kagome made sure to be gentle. She didn't want to upset him and ruin this chance. After a moment she started to hear a faint rumbling noise, almost like a growl. It took her a minute to realize that the sound was coming from Inuyasha. He had leaned his head back and his eyes were closed. She also noticed a trace of a smile on his lips. She stopped rubbing.
He whined, so she started again. She wasn't even sure if he was aware of the sound he was making. Before long, she saw that he had fallen asleep. Kagome turned to go upstairs to her room.
The next morning Kagome woke to find two amber eyes staring into her own. "About time you woke up." Inuyasha said.
"Good morning to you too." she replied. Kagome sat up. "I'll be right down." He grunted, in reply.
Kagome came downstairs. Inuyasha was in the kitchen, trying to light the stove. "Damn thing." he grumbled.
"Move." Kagome said. She lit the burner. She noticed that he had the makings of breakfast sitting on the counter. "Do you want some help?"
"Like I need your help." he replied.
"Fine." she said. "But you better not burn the house down." She only said that to get back at him for his rudeness because she knew he could cook, even though she wondered why he was doing it. He didn't usually cook for anyone. She sat on the couch to watch TV until he was done.
He called her into the kitchen when it was ready. The food was quite good and Inuyasha blushed when Kagome said as much. "I suppose we should go back." Kagome said. Inuyasha shrugged as he continued to eat. "You're acting really weird lately."
"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha asked.
"First you want to come here with me, then you let me rub your ears, and now you aren't pestering me to go back." she said. "Why did you let me rub your ears and what was that sound you were making?"
He shrugged again trying to keep his expression neutral "What sound?"
"If you were a cat I would have said you were purring." she told him.
"Ha, I don't know what you are talking about." Inuyasha told her
Inuyasha was blushing to match his haori. Kagome took her plate to the sink and when she came back to the table, she stopped behind Inuyasha. She started rubbing his ears again. It didn't take long for him to give into the feeling. She stopped when he started to produce that low growl.
"Now do you know what sound I'm talking about?" she asked. He nodded. "I didn't know you could do that."
"Neither did I." he replied. He was kind of disappointed that she had stopped.
"I'll pack my bag and we can go." she said on her way out of the kitchen.
Inuyasha was disappointed about that too. Back with the others, he wouldn't be able to get any closer to telling Kagome how he feels, and he sure couldn't let anyone else see her rubbing his ears. It had been so easy for him to fall asleep last night, but they would have to go if he couldn't think of another reason to stay.
Kagome came back downstairs with her bag, wearing a blue turtleneck and jeans. The seasons were changing and it would soon be winter. As they walked to the well house Kagome shivered. A chill was in the air. She wouldn't be surprised if it snowed early this year. She wondered if the same chill would be found once they returned to the past.
If anything it is colder, Kagome thought as they exited the well. She was glad she had packed some warm clothes. Upon entering the village they were greeted warmly by Sango, Miroku, and Shippou. Sango and Shippou went with Kagome to take her bag to Kaede's.
"Inuyasha," Miroku started. "I wanted to ask for your help." Miroku said.
"What now monk? I already killed that bastard Naraku and freed you from the curse" Inuyasha said.
Miroku ignored him. "As a monk the opportunity for physical labor did not come up that often. If I am to have a house built before winter I am going to need the help of someone who is more suited to that aspect of the work." Miroku said.
"So what you are really saying is you want me to do the heavy lifting." Inuyasha scoffed. Before Miroku could say anything in response Inuyasha continued. "All right , but you have to let Kagome stay with you and Sango when she's here, until I can build her somewhere to stay."
"I was going to suggest that anyway, since it would not be appropriate for Sango to stay with me otherwise." Miroku added.
"Since when do you care about what's appropriate hentai." Inuyasha laughed.
Miroku again chose to ignore Inuyasha's remark. He had gotten what he wanted and didn't want Inuyasha to get mad and change his mind. As they went to find Sango and Kagome. Inuyasha wondered why he hadn't thought of building Kagome a place to stay a long time ago. She was here often enough to need a home.
Sango and Kagome had been talking about whether or not they thought Inuyasha would help Miroku. Kagome was sure that he would, but Sango had her doubts. When Miroku walked up smiling Kagome knew that Inuyasha had agreed to help. He really is a softy, she thought.
It didn't take long for Kagome to get restless. With Naraku gone and no other need to leave the village, all Kagome had to keep herself occupied were daily chores and occasionally helping Kaede attend to a villager or her herbs. She missed her family since they had been gone the last time she visited. Inuyasha was always off helping Miroku and even when he wasn't they never had time to be alone together.
After two weeks, she finally decided to tell Inuyasha that she wanted to go see her family. She walked to the new clearing they had made by gathering the wood for the house. It was just starting to take shape. In her time a simple house like this would have taken no time at all to build.
She had brought with her a cup of ramen in hopes of appeasing Inuyasha. He stopped working and came over to her, immediately reaching for the ramen. "I want to go visit my family." she said.
He looked at her over the edge of the nearly empty cup. While he finished, he considered it. It had been a while since she had seen her family. They would also be away from the prying eyes of the monk and Sango. He finished the last of the ramen and handed the cup to Kagome. "Can you wait a few days, until the new moon?" he asked. She smiled. If he wanted he to wait until he would be human, then that meant he was planning on coming with her. She nodded. "All right. Bring me some more ramen." he said. She rolled her eyes, but was so happy that he wanted to go with her that she did as he asked.
A/N: Thanks to those who left reviews, and for the encouragment and kind words.I meant to include your names in this note, but I forgot to write them down before I started uploading. I will be sure to thank you each individually next time.