Hitori ni Sasenai

By Lady Mac

A/N: Hi again everybody! Sorry this is taking so long, but school started and life is absotively nuts! But anyways, I was rereading chapter two, and I got to the part where Inuyasha says "Still got my pants on," and it made me think of the crazy stuff we were doing at the football game on Friday night! Our slogan for the day was "Take off your pants, and go Trojans!" and the cheerleaders were going to do the "Jump, shake your booty" cheer for me, Lisa, Amanda, Katie, and PDR (Pimp Daddy Ross -- isn't that the best nickname?), so while we were loading sousaphones and drums into the vans I combined the two to get "Jump, take your pants off!" It's really funny because almost everyone wears shorts under the band uniform, so we actually could take our pants off in public! It was tremendous fun!!

So anyways, this is just a note for all the people - I'm now posting this story on as well, since there I can put in lots of lemons and what-have-you and not worry about stuff getting deleted. So if anything happens to it - or you want some pointless filth - I have the same pen name at aff, and the title and everything is the same.

Another note on this chapter particularly: There are TWO lemons in this. This version doesn't go into much detail, so if you want it give me your email address and I will email you the detailed version of the first one. Aff-ers, don't worry because I'll just put it in. Go find it at if you want the one that says about two sentences about Kouga that kind of builds to the resolution of that plot string, but it's not really necessary.

Kouga fans: I really hope I did him justice in this. I don't like him a lot, but I wanted to keep him in character, and I hope it's not overly fluffy or anything. Criticize me if you must, but give me suggestions instead of straight insults!

And for all you Mir/San peeps - your day has come!! Enjoy! Yes, it's corny, but I like that, okay?!? Just back off already! sniffl. Okay, I'm done being melodramatic now.

Disclaimer: Fine, you caught me. I have Inuyasha stashed in my locker at school, Kagome is in the percussion room, Shippou, Kirara, Sango, and Miroku are in the theater shop sorting gels, and Sesshy is sweeping the grid (he talked back to v2k3, aka Mark who is the new Mark, aka basket case.)

Ahem.

Chapter Eight

Marked

Inuyasha and Kagome escorted Kaiya back through the well to her own time, and after taking back the lost jewel shard returned again to the Sengoku Jidai.

Their lives returned gradually to something resembling what they considered "normal." The group of friends continued to search and fight for shards of the Shikon no Tama, though Kagome made occasional non-school-related forays to her own time since her mother insisted on frequent checkups for her and the child. Additionally, when he had nothing better to do, Inuyasha would pace around the village, muttering to himself and occasionally writing things in a notebook that Kagome had given him. He showed it to no one, and kept it hidden inside his haori when he wasn't writing in it.

One evening while Kagome was cooking dinner on the road, she asked him about it.

"Oh," he said, startled, then looked around and sighed. "Well, I guess this is as good a time as any." He pulled it out and flipped to a page halfway through, then held it up so she could see. "Kagome, I'm going to build you a house."

She nearly dropped the chopsticks she was using to stir the noodles. "A house?"

He smiled. "Of course. We're going to need someplace of our own once this all gets going."

She stared at the intricate drawing, her mouth open. "But ... this is ... it's so elaborate!"

"This is incredible!" Sango interjected, peering at the paper. "Can you really build all this?"

"Don't see why not," Inuyasha said. "I mean, I might need a couple of guys to help me with some parts, but this shouldn't be impossible."

"You're crazy," Miroku said, and Sango squealed and smacked his hand away from her rear end.

Inuyasha grinned. "Not crazy. A good provider is what I am."

"You could take a couple of things from his book," Kagome said teasingly and went back to cooking.

"Yoink!" The monk snatched the notebook away, and was paging through it before the startled hanyou could react.

"Oi! Bouzu! That's mine!!" He grabbed for the little book, but Miroku held it just out of his reach.

"You dirty dog!" he said, holding it out and studying a page closely. "You actually drew that!"

"What!" squeaked Kagome, noodles forgotten again.

Inuyasha turned bright red. "I - I didn't! You're being dirty!" He took it forcefully from his friend and stuffed it inside his haori. "These are just plans, and I had to get ideas down. I never drew anything dirty!"

Miroku smirked as he sat on the ground near the fire, then held up a bowl. "May I have some noodles, Kagome-sama?"

The rest of the evening passed in relative quiet. They finished eating their dinners, and Inuyasha and Miroku were left to prepare the area for sleeping while the women, Kirara, and Shippou went to a river nearby to wash the dishes.

"I know what I saw in that notebook, Inuyasha," Miroku said as he picked up sticks from a flat spot on the ground.

Inuyasha sighed. "I know you do. I just don't want Kagome to know. She's ... well, I just don't think she'd take it all that well."

Miroku smiled. "Me neither. I know Sango would have a fit if she knew the things I thought about doing with her."

"Feh. Aren't you two together yet?"

No answer.

Inuyasha looked at him smoothing out a bedroll. "Have you even kissed her yet?" he asked, more gently this time.

Miroku shook his head. "Not really. I mean ... a peck on the cheek once doesn't count, does it?"

"No." Inuyasha looked down at Kagome's sleeping bag, which he had unrolled on the ground.

Miroku followed his gaze. "How come you don't sleep together?"

The hanyou's head snapped up and he blushed a little. "What? Whaddya mean?"

He sat down on another bedroll. "You and Kagome. You're getting married, but you don't sleep in the same bed. She's always in a bag with Shippou, and you're always up in a tree. It seems to me like you should get used to openly being intimate with her instead of just fantasizing about it."

Inuyasha sighed. "I suppose so. I mean, with all this the least I can do is keep her warm at night." He studied the sleeping bag closely and decided it was - barely - big enough for two. "Shippou is gonna have to go, though."

Miroku laughed. "Not enthusiastic about sharing your girl with a kitsune, huh?"

"Fuck no!" He sat happily on the bedroll and began fluffing the pillow, but a loud scream from the river tore him out of his daydream. "Kagome!" He leapt to his feet, but before he could start running he smelled someone familiar come close, and moments later Kouga himself appeared at the edge of the trees, Kagome trapped at his side by his powerful grasp.

"Inu-koru!" he said in greeting. "Looks like you let your guard down and I got the girl again!"

Inuyasha seethed with rage. "I didn't let my guard down! You and your sneaky-ass shards came out of nowhere!"

Kouga smirked. "No matter! But if you want to keep an available bitch to yourself, you should defend her a little better!"

"She's not available!" he barked, and managed to pull the surprised wolf-demon's arm off of Kagome, who instantly clung to his haori and watched Kouga suspiciously. "Honestly, baka, do you ever use your nose?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I know she's pregnant. That means nothing except that you've defiled her. It's a mystery to me why she would stay with you after that."

"You bastard!" Kagome's hand flew fast and hit him on the face. "I was not raped! Everything we did was consensual!"

His eyes narrowed at Inuyasha and he rubbed his cheek. "Then why does she not bear your mark, inu-koru? I suppose you're too stupid to know what that is, though."

Inuyasha growled and lunged at him, but Kouga leapt easily away. "I'm not like you wolves!" he barked. "I don't bite my bitch so scum like you will know she's mine!"

"Why ever not?" Kouga asked gleefully. "All civilized youkai do it. It's really the only way to ensure fidelity!"

Kagome grabbed Inuyasha and pulled him to her. "I would never be unfaithful to Inuyasha, Kouga! How can you think that?"

"I know you humans," he sneered. "Monogamy among your type is practically an oxymoron!" He focused again on Inuyasha. "Who knows when she'll get tired of you and go looking for someone better? No one in their right mind would take a girl who already has a mating mark. Although ... that's only if it's from a powerful youkai. I don't know how many would honor a hanyou's claim." He looked at the couple in disdain, then seemed to mentally shrug his shoulders. "But she's not marked anyways, so there really is nothing to stop me from taking her and marking her as my own..."

"Never!" Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga and leapt at the wolf, who barely missed having his legs sliced off.

"Inuyasha, no!" Kagome cried. This was escalating quickly out of control. "Please, if it's that important, can't you just do it now?"

Inuyasha and Kouga almost fell over at the suggestion. "In .. in front of all these people?" Inuyasha asked, incredulous.

Several meters removed, Miroku's eyes nearly bugged out. He had heard about this, and if it actually happened he was not going to miss it.

"HENTAI!"

Sango dope-slapped him as hard as she possibly could, and he doubled over on himself in surprise. He hadn't realized she had returned. Slowly he turned to look up at her. "What the hell?!? I didn't do anything!"

"Uh ... yes," Kagome said, ignoring the scene behind her. "I mean ... if it's that important, why couldn't we just do it?"

"I don't think you fully understand," Inuyasha hissed. "In order for it to work, we have to be ... well, actively engaged in sexual intercourse."

Kagome blushed right up to the roots of her hair. "Why ... why didn't you do it before?"

"I just ... I didn't think you'd like it. I have to draw blood, and it's supposed to hurt a lot."

"Tell you what," Kouga said, smirking. "If you mark her right now, I'll give you my jewel shards and leave you alone for good. But if you chicken out, I'm gonna take her and make sure you never touch her again."

Inuyasha turned slightly pink, but glared over at his arch-rival. "You've got yourself a deal, punk. But if this hurts the pup, I'm gonna hunt you down and kill you personally."

"Deal," Kouga said sweetly. "But it's gotta work, and I've gotta see it work."

Inuyasha's blush darkened. "Sango, Miroku, take Shippou and Kirara somewhere for a while."

Sango pulled Miroku to his feet and grabbed Shippou, and moments later the four were out of hearing range. Inuyasha took her hand and walked determinedly to her sleeping bag.

"Wait ... wait just a minute, let me get this straight," she said, and he stopped and looked at her. "We ... we're going to have sex while Kouga watches, just so that he knows I belong to you?"

"And I have to bite you," Inuyasha said. "But come on, just think of everything we'll get out of it!"

"I guess so ... but ... where do you have to bite me?"

"Anywhere will do, really," he said, pulling her close. "It's really only the change in smell that matters, but it can be somewhere visible if you want." He nuzzled her neck gently.

"I ... uh ..." she said. It was getting hard to think, and she had nearly forgotten Kouga was there. "Wh ... what does it look like?"

"That depends," Inuyasha said huskily. "Get in the sleeping bag."

"Hey!" Kouga said. "That wasn't part of the deal!"

"You'll see me when I bite her," he said distractedly, untying his pants. "It's not like you won't know what's happening."

"Depends on what?" Kagome asked, lying down carefully.

"My youki," he said. He pulled off his clothes and joined her on the ground, pulling the sleeping bag closed before kissing her passionately.

Kouga leaned against a tree and watched them intently from a modest distance as Inuyasha gently removed Kagome's clothes and set them on the ground next to the bag. As much as he disliked Inuyasha, he had to admit that he treated Kagome very well, and was obviously pleasuring her a lot. Her eyes were closed and she held him tightly as he began to move, and she moaned just loud enough for him to hear when Inuyasha mounted her.

He almost felt embarrassed to watch them as they continued, their passion and intensity growing rapidly, until suddenly, just before her climax, Inuyasha leaned into her neck and bit down with his sharp canines. She cried out, but it was not simply from pain. He had marked her at exactly the right moment, the height of both of their arousals.

Inuyasha gave one final grunting thrust, then visibly relaxed and began licking the blood from Kagome's skin. "Hush," he whispered as she trembled beneath him. "That's all we have to do. You're fine." He took the sleeve of his haori and pressed it to the wound so that he could look into her face. Her eyes were still closed tightly, and he stroked her cheek. "It's okay. Come on, you can open your eyes now."

She looked slowly up at him. "You weren't kidding when you said it hurt."

He smiled gently. "Why would I lie to you?" He pulled the fabric back and examined her flesh. "It's done bleeding now. In a few minutes the mark should be visible." He lifted himself off of her and handed her pieces of clothing as she dressed under him, and as soon as she was finished he stood up and pulled his own clothes back on.

Kouga shook off his embarrassment and strode to where Kagome was standing, touching the swollen area on her neck. "What does it look like?" she asked.

"Just red," he answered, fishing grudgingly in his arm for the jewel shard. He plucked it out with his claws, but then almost put it back when the blood flow did not stop instantly. He pressed his palm on the wound, and in a few moments it had clotted.

"The mark itself won't appear until the bruise goes away," Inuyasha explained as he tied Tetsusaiga to his hip. "If you were youkai we would know in a couple of hours, but since you're human it could be a couple of days." He quirked an eyebrow at Kouga, who was busy digging the other two shards out of his shins. "But the change in scent is immediate. Now anyone with half a nose knows you're spoken for."

"What about you?" Kagome asked. "Does the marking thing go both ways? Can I mark you?"

He moved to her side and kissed the bruise. "Theoretically, yes. But I don't think your teeth could puncture my skin." She frowned a little and gazed up at him.

"That doesn't mean much," Kouga said, standing up. "Your scent changes a little after you've given a mating mark, Inuyasha, not just received one. It's not as pronounced on you as on her, but I can smell it. Faint but unmistakable."

"Do you think I could smell it?" Kagome asked eagerly.

Both men shook their heads, and Inuyasha tapped her nose. "Human senses. Trust me, your nose is for shit."

"But no self-respecting youkai bitch would touch him now," Kouga said, and held his hand out to her. "Here's the shards. A deal is a deal."

Kagome took them gently and put them in her vial. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Kouga-kun." She looked at Inuyasha. "Will you go get Sango-chan and the others?"

He nodded, and took a gentle sniff of her as he walked past. Then, confident that the change was unmistakable, he hurried into the forest to find his friends.

Kagome sat carefully on her sleeping bag and looked up at the wolf youkai standing over her. "Have a seat," she invited. "I'd like to talk to you."

"I promised I would leave you alone," he said.

"Sit down anyways. I don't think Inuyasha cares that much anyways, and I know I don't."

He lowered himself to the ground and looked at her. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I was just wondering what possessed you to offer us that deal. You don't get anything out of it except a little voyeurism."

He hung his head. "Truth be told, that wasn't my original intent. I sought you out just to give you my shards - the mating mark thing was kind of an afterthought."

"Wait, you wanted to give us the shards? That's not at all like you."

"I know. Thing is, though, the jewel was attracting a lot of unwanted attention to me, and to the tribe. We suffered a lot of attacks by very powerful youkai, which we only barely one. Many good fighters were lost defending me, to the point where over half the pack was wiped out. I decided after the last attack that it wasn't worth keeping them. I couldn't stand to have any more killed just to make me a little stronger and faster."

Kagome reached out and touched his hand, and his startling blue eyes locked on her. She smiled. "That's very honorable. And ... I know you promised you'd leave us alone for good, but I want you to know that I'll always welcome you if you decide to come see us."

Kouga smiled a little bit and stood up. "Thank you. I don't know if I will, but I appreciate the thought. As it is, I'll have a lot to keep me busy rebuilding my tribe." He looked up at the twilight. "I need to get back to them."

Kagome stood up. "Good luck with everything."

"And to you. Sayonara." He ran into the woods in the direction from whence he had come.

"Ja mata," she called after him, and he raised one hand to her just before he disappeared into the trees.

--&&---

"But why do we have to go?" whined Shippou loudly from under Miroku's arm, and the monk hiked him up higher on his hip. They'd been walking for several minutes, and the kitsune hadn't stopped complaining the whole time.

"Kagome and Inuyasha needed to be alone with Kouga for a little bit," Sango explained for the umpteenth time, walking briskly ahead with Kirara at her heels.

"But he just wants to take Kagome away again and get our shards! What if he attacks them and Inuyasha can't fend him off? They need us!"

"They will be fine!" Miroku insisted. "They're perfectly capable of taking care of each other."

"What is going on here?" Shippou cried. "Everybody's suddenly acting like Inuyasha and Kagome are married or something. It's really weird! Something is going on and nobody told me anything!"

Miroku looked at Sango, and she met his gaze. No one had told Shippou anything yet, thinking he was still rather young to be aware of big, exciting events so far in advance. Especially since the full story would involve explaining the birds and the bees to him. They figured that could wait until it was obvious that Kagome was pregnant.

"This is far enough," Sango announced. She sat down at the base of a tree and beckoned the kitsune to come sit on her lap. "Shippou, the reason we're all acting like that is because they are getting married, in a couple of months."

"What! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"We didn't want you to get too excited," Miroku said, kneeling beside them. "They don't want it to be a big deal."

"Okay," Shippou conceded. "But that doesn't explain why Kagome and Inuyasha keep going to Kagome's time. I mean, it's normal for Kagome to go, but why does Inuyasha go with her? He's all super-protective suddenly."

Sango sighed and Miroku nodded. "The reason Inuyasha is so obsessed with Kagome-chan's safety is because she is going to have a baby."

Shippou's small mouth dropped open. "No way. They're gonna have a pup?"

"It's true," Miroku said. "The child should be born about mid-winter."

"That's so cool!" he said, clapping his little paws. "It's like I'm gonna have a little brother!"

"Or sister," Sango said, relaxing with a smile. "It might be a girl."

At that moment a muted cry came from the direction of the clearing and Shippou jumped to his feet. "Oh no! That was Kagome, and she sounds hurt!" He started to run back, then stopped and looked back. "What are you guys waiting for?! Come on!"

"It's fine, Shippou!" Miroku said. "They're perfectly okay, they don't need help!"

"You're crazy. I'm going, whether you're coming or not!" He started off again, and Sango started to get up.

"Don't," Miroku said, putting out a hand to stop her. "He'll be fine once he sees that Kouga's not anywhere near her."

She froze and looked down. What he had assumed in his haste to be her arm was actually a different body part, and he immediately let go. "Gomen nasai." He closed his eyes, preparing for the slap.

It didn't come.

He looked up and saw her laughing gently at him. "What?"

"You're so cute, Miroku-chan."

He couldn't help but smile. Not only had she not hit him, but she had used his name and an affectionate honorific! "Arigatou, kirei na on'na," he said, bowing.

She blushed. "I never knew you were such a gentleman."

"Only for the women I really like." He grinned. "And by that I mean you, of course. Sango-chan."

Her hand settled gently on his leg, but he picked it up and stared into her deep brown eyes. "I tried to ask you this before and you cut me off. And ... well, we were kind of playing around then, but this time you have to know I'm really serious."

Sango's mouth suddenly went dry and her heart fluttered against her ribs like a caged bird. Though she had been attracted to the young monk from the moment she met him, she had soon dismissed him as a lost cause - no one that wonderful could be interested in her. Add that to his incessant flirting with every woman he met, and you got a man who wasn't to be bothered with. But recently she had noticed that the wasn't hitting on other girls at all - and he had kissed her on the cheek that one time. At the time she had dismissed it as a gesture meant to comfort her, but ... could it really have meant something more?

He took her other hand and held them together in his. "Sango, I love you. Will you be my wife?"

She stared at him for a long moment, frozen, unable to speak. She'd thought it would be the "bear my child" speech that he usually gave, but ... "be my wife"? His obviously took his profession of love quite seriously if he would follow it immediately by an actual marriage proposal! She rose quietly to her knees and, freeing her hands, placed a long, full kiss on his lips.

Miroku couldn't believe his fortune. She wanted him as badly as he wanted her! Without even a thought he wrapped his arms around her body and deepened the kiss, opening his mouth slightly and tickling her lips with his tongue until they parted. He tasted her hungrily, relishing in the explosion of passion that they had been denying each other for so long.

He pulled her to the side and onto the ground, and settled on top of her lithe body. Her legs relaxed and parted, and he fell easily between them, grinding his hardening manhood against her pelvis.

The unfamiliar sensation of lust filled her body. She had never even been kissed before, and this passion was almost more than she could bear.

Miroku pushed against her, and she moaned in pleasure. Almost. It was quite a rush, though, going from innocent to as good as married in only minutes. She bucked against his body, needing to feel more of him.

Miroku broke the kiss and desperately pulled at her kimono, dragging it from her shoulders and exposing her full breasts. He took one nipple in his mouth and began sucking gently, tickling the point with his tongue. Sango ran her fingers through his thick hair in ecstacy when he moved lower along her body, pulling clothing off as he went, until he reached her dark curls.

He looked up at her mischievously. "Want to go on?"

"Gods, yes!" She reached up and pulled him back down on top of her as he hurriedly opened his robes. She untied his under-hakama as he opened the last of her clothing, and then came down fast, pressing hotly against her bare flesh for a moment before he lifted off slightly, then finally slid his throbbing shaft into her wet opening.

"What the fuck?"

Both lovers cried out in shock as they looked over and saw Inuyasha staring horrified at them from several meters away.

"Okay, never mind," he said, turning his back. "I just came to tell you that me and Kagome are done. But if you're not, I'll just go back and we won't wait up for you." He stepped off into the trees. "Fucking perv."

"Matte, Inuyasha!" called Miroku, and the boy stopped but did not turn around. "Please ... don't tell Kagome what you saw."

"What am I supposed to say?" he demanded, still not looking. "That I couldn't find you or something?"

"Er ... well ..." Miroku didn't know what to say. He desperately wanted to make love to Sango, and he knew that she wanted him just as badly, but he didn't want Kagome or the others to know about this. It would be too embarrassing. Aw, screw it! He was going soft while he sat here deliberating, and he knew Sango wasn't getting more aroused either. "Never mind. Tell them whatever. We'll be back soon enough."

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders and walked away again. "Suit yourselves."

Miroku sighed and looked back down at Sango. Her brown eyes were wide and watching, and slightly afraid. He kissed her gently. "I love you." He squeezed her breasts with both hands.

She smiled, then reached down and began massaging his growing organ. "Let's do it."

"As if I needed an invitation!" he moaned, and moments later Kagome knew what had happened, even before Inuyasha returned.

Language notes:

Inu-koru: "Dog turd" - Kouga's "affectionate" nickname for Inuyasha.

Baka: Idiot.

Hentai: Literally "porn." It's what Sango says when Miroku is being lecherous.

Youki: translated in the show as demonic wind - it is derived from youkai, meaning "demon," and ki, meaning strength or power.

Arigatou gozaimasu: Thank you very much.

Ja mata: Goodbye (informal).

Gomen nasai: I'm sorry.

Arigatou, kirei na on'na: Thank you, pretty lady.

Matte: Wait.