Disclaimer: I have lots of stuff, one non-imaginary boyfriend, and no Inuyasha. Merchandise, yes, inu-hanyou, no.

A/N: Ahhh, what can I say? You people and your reviews make me happy, and so I write a new chappie whilst I wait for my boy to get over the flu. Nearly the whole purpose of thischapter is to satisfy requests in some shape or form…reverse psychology works, guys: if you're nice and cool enough to suggest I take a month off with my boy, I get another chapter up in three or four days. ;D

While I'm here, I would like to protest the charge that I've been bashing Inuyasha, though. The only way I could see that I've done so is how childishly he's acted and the way he's been taken to task for it, and considering how childish he can be in canon, I don't think he'd act very maturely when faced with nothing to do for three months but wait around and sulk all day; nor do I believe the others would be able to put up with him for weeks on end, day in and day out, with no battles to fight or shards to look for as distraction, which is exactly the situation. It's not entirely flattering, no, but I don't believe it qualifies as bashing him, merely as a difference in interpretation—and besides, I'm not done portraying him, nowhere near, in fact. ;) If I've misinterpreted the review, please clarify: this is less "How dare YOU admonish ME, vermin!" (name that quote!) and more curiosity regarding whether I've possibly botched a key point, and I can't decide whether it needs fixing 'less I know I understand what you mean.

And it bears reiterating that I'm not the world's biggest sucker for feedback, but I'm up there; I feel silly for saying so, but I still can't quite believe I'm at 30 chapters already and not even the two-month mark, and you guys haven't revolted. Everyone who's enjoying it, I'm immensely glad, whether you're reviewing or not, though reviews also make me very happy, even con crit, because it means someone cares enough to point out something wrong. (I maintain that spelling mistakes are ff dot net's fault, too. Silly ff dot net.)

-claps hands briskly- All righty then! Let's quit rambling and get to it, shall we?

(Warning! Cavity alert! Partly the fault of Sis, who asked for fluff, which I was already going to put in!)

Beast

Chapter 30

Sango was drinking more medicine at Miroku's insistence, her brother watching anxiously, when the shoji slid open and two very hot, rumpled and flushed people staggered in, nearly flopping onto the floor as one. "Hi, Sango-chan," Kagome said happily, grabbing at a magazine lying open nearby and fanning herself vigorously.

"What?" Inuyasha snapped at Kohaku, who ducked his head in an apologetic bow and ceased staring immediately.

"Did you work everything out?" Miroku's carefully bland tone was offensive in itself, but Kagome chose to ignore it.

"Shove it, bouzu," Inuyasha replied, eyeing the magazine. Kagome switched hands and began fanning him instead. The hanyou snorted, crossing his arms and looking disdainful, then discreetly curved his neck to take advantage of the air hitting his skin. "How's it going, Sango? Not dead yet?"

Sango was also feeling well enough to notice her friend's satisfaction, and she gave Kagome a speaking look – you're telling me everything as soon as possible – before answering almost normally aloud, putting the tiny bowl aside. "Better, thank you, Inuyasha."

The atmosphere relaxed noticeably after that, with Miroku dropping veiled guesses as to why they had needed to conduct their discussion outside and where it had taken place, for how long, and so on, till Inuyasha exploded and Kagome had to intervene, though she was quite proud of him for lasting that long.

"Why don't we all eat in here?" she then suggested, without thinking, and cringed as the room fell awkwardly silent. "Um…look, I know what happened, and I'm sorry, but we've all got to eat sometime, and Sango needs nutrition. Can't you just check everything first, Inuyasha?"

After some argument, Kohaku was dispatched to watch the food being prepared, and Kagome tried to think of a way to keep everyone occupied as it grew quiet again. DDR was out of the question, and Sango wasn't even strong enough to hold cards. No, she needed something else, maybe a word game… Ah ha! "You guys want to play a game?"

They listened to her explanation of a game she'd learned a long time ago, and though they were more than a little amused and uncertain at the concept, even Inuyasha agreed to play without too much fuss. "Miroku-sama, you go first," she said imperiously, and the monk winced.

"If you insist…" He thought about it for a minute, frowning thoughtfully. "First, Inuyasha once fell asleep in his mother's things and was caught drooling all over them."

"OI!" Inuyasha bellowed, and Kagome, laughing with Sango, had to shield the monk to prevent bloodshed. "I told you that was confidential, and the damn things are supposed to be about your own damn self!"

"All life is but part of a greater whole, and thus all are one, and I certainly may—" Miroku held up his hands as Kagome threatened him, too. "All right! My first statement is that I cannot swim." They considered this, and when they deemed it more acceptable, he went on. "Second, I don't particularly enjoy sake, but I enjoy drinking it."

"Good one," Kagome murmured, almost to herself, and Inuyasha snorted.

"And my third…" Miroku's eyes grew distant, and he frowned slightly. "My father's last words to me were to ask for some of his favorite fish from the river, even though he knew I was terrible at catching them." He shook himself and looked around wryly. "Well?"

"I know for a fact you sink like a rock," Inuyasha said flatly. "So that one was true."

Miroku inclined his head. "Yes, you're correct."

"So the first was true. …Incidentally, by 'drinking,' did you mean the taste, or the effects?" Sango asked shrewdly, and the monk quirked an eyebrow at her smugly.

"If that wasn't true, then your father…" Kagome trailed off and fidgeted, grateful for a slight drop in the temperature already. Guess he's calmed down now…

Inuyasha looked uncomfortable, and Sango took the opportunity to sip at the medicine again. Kagome glanced at them, then shrugged. "So, was that true, Miroku-sama?"

"No, that was the lie," Miroku said calmly. "He hated fish."

Once the attempts to hit him and laughter died down, he meekly submitted to Kagome's demands for an explanation: "Actually, the last thing he ever did was to tell me to go show my mother a small cave we'd discovered in the woods near our home the day before. He did so because he wanted us to be safely away when his curse broke its bounds and swallowed him whole."

"Oh." What were they supposed to say to that?

Miroku shrugged easily. "Not something I would want to subject my own son to. I'm rather grateful he sent us away. There was nothing we could have done except cause him worry. Now, on with the game."

Kagome sank back on her still-damp haunches, absently hugging the pillow she'd been wielding one-handed against the monk's head. Sheez, and I thought I had family problems. "Okay, I'll go next." She hadn't played Two Truths and a Lie in a long time and had forgotten how interesting it could be, especially considering how little she still knew her friends in many respects; even if serious items came up, it was always at that person's discretion, and Miroku's revelation simply meant he was comfortable telling them such a thing. "Uh…"

Shippou slid the door open, yipped happily and scooted into Kagome's lap, burrowing between the pillow and her sweaty kimono. She tweaked his ear lightly and smiled as something came to her. "Before I was born, my dad was so convinced that I was going to be a boy, he called me Souta even after Mom gave birth and they cut the cord."

There was a moment of silence, and then general amusement as it became evident that it was all right to show it. "Your dad's not very smart, is he?" Shippou asked bluntly, and Inuyasha couldn't quite restrain a bark of laughter.

"Second," Kagome said pointedly, sparing Inuyasha a Look, "I had lots of people bother me in grade school – education when you're very young – because they wanted help with their English."

"That's another language, isn't it?" Miroku asked.

Kagome nodded. "Last…" She ran a hand through her hair absently, sorting through the sweat-sticky locks with difficulty. Something came to her, and she rejected it: too personal. "Uh…" Her mind was blank. "Hmmm…"

Inuyasha scowled as she moved her shoulder and grimaced. "Yeah, wench?"

Kagome licked her lips. Aw, hell, why not? If Miroku can get morbid… "In this time, your birthday is supposed to be happy 'cause you get presents from your family and friends, but I've hated mine ever since my mother died on my eleventh."

Her matter-of-fact tone couldn't quite cushion that one, and it was a good ten seconds before Sango spoke up. "Didn't you come here on your birthday, Kagome-chan?"

"The night before I turned eighteen, yep." Kagome had almost forgotten about that. Funny that Sango should remember… "And the day we found out that Dad lost all our money was my fifteenth birthday. My twelfth wasn't much fun, either, but nothing as bad as the other two."

"So…" Shippou's little face scrunched up. "You never got any presents this time?"

For some reason, that struck Kagome as extremely funny, and she nearly had to set him down as she doubled up laughing. "No," she gasped, "Shippou-chan…I…did…not. I got to come here and scream bad words at Inuyasha instead."

"What kind of things would you have gotten?" Shippou persisted, ignoring Sango's chiding. Kagome was still too amused to reply, and thus she missed Inuyasha's ears swiveling uneasily as he frowned at the floor.

The sound of the shoji sliding open and Kohaku escorting two servants in with several trays of food distracted them; it wasn't till Inuyasha had inspected the food and made Kohaku swear up and down that he'd watched the entire preparation of each dish – made with extra speed and care lest Inuyasha-sama find cause for complaint again – that they settled down and finished the round.

"I think we can safely assume the last is true," Miroku commented, eyeing Sango sternly till she made a face at him and took a small bite of rice. "Forgive me for saying so, but from what I've heard, I doubt the first couldn't have happened, either. Therefore, I believe the information about the other language to be the lie."

"I knew I made it too easy," Kagome complained, feeding Shippou a generous portion of her fish. "You're right, of course. The bits about Dad and my birthdays were true. I did speak English better than most people when I was little, but I never told anyone, or I'd get made fun of too much. It wasn't worth it."

"Really? I had the impression that it was common these days," Kohaku remarked politely but curiously.

"Nope." Kagome swallowed a large mouthful, then continued as she fed the kit. "Culturally, things now really aren't too much different from what you guys knew. Women have more legal rights, we dress a lot different, and we've assimilated a lot of Western expressions, technology, and some other stuff, but my being almost fluent in English is the exception, not the norm. Only foreigners or teachers are supposed to be able to speak it."

Inuyasha snorted again. "So you being touchy-feely is just another weird thing you do, and not normal?"

Kagome could've cheerfully slapped him. "If you want to put it that way," she said tartly, favoring him with a glare that made him shrink back. "I think it's your turn, too." She was extremely grateful for the tactful silence, another cultural tendency of which she was very fond.

"Does everyone look this way?" Miroku cut Inuyasha's grumbling off by raising the magazine from where Kagome had dropped it, peering at the glossy pages in the dimming light. "Is she part demon, or do humans change their hair color some other way?"

"It's dyed. The partial coloring is called highlights. It's pretty popular—not that respectable, but if you're young enough, most people let it slide." Kagome set Shippou down, handed him the bowl and slid over to rest her back against the bed, taking the magazine and pointing out various hairstyles. "This is an older issue, three or four years, so I have no clue what's in style now."

Miroku and Kohaku leaned in closer, and Sango craned her neck around, while Inuyasha was torn between gratitude that the game was forgotten and irritation at having to either lean over or be left out. Kagome figured as much, and didn't really care. Jerk. "Touchy-feely" pffft. Who was touching who last night, huh? "See, this page advertises jewelry, like rings, bracelets, necklaces, chokers, earrings…"

"Do you have any of these, Kagome-chan?" Sango wanted to know.

"Some old ones I never wear, yeah…a ring, a couple of bracelets and a watch." Kagome tapped one floridly colorful ad, drawing their eyes away from the candy pieces and elephants in the background and towards the pretty, miniskirted model's exposed neck. "That's called a choker. They're a little uncomfortable at first, but I always liked them."

"Keh! You like the idea of wearing a collar?" Inuyasha had stood up and casually leaned over them to see the page. "Is that why the girl's head is exploding with all that stuff?"

"Her head's not exploding, Inuyasha, and it's not a collar," Kagome said patiently. "It's jewelry. If you add a little dangly pearl or a design, they look really pretty, too." She flicked the page over, and Miroku made an interested noise: it was a perfume ad, and the posing models were clad only in their underwear. Kagome hastily turned the page again. "That was…uh…just an ad. People who make things know lots of girls will look at these pages, so they buy page space to show off whatever they're selling."

"They're selling girls?" Miroku leaned in closer. "I say, Kagome-sama, may I—"

A weak rap of Sango's knuckles brought him around, and Kagome put the magazine aside, sighing, so they could all finish their dinners. Sango had only managed a small portion of hers, but no one remarked upon it as Kohaku cleared the dishes and Shippou curled back up in Kagome's lap with a huge yawn. "What were you guys doing before?"

"Playing a game…and now it's Inuyasha's turn." All eyes went his way, and the hanyou scowled darkly at the kitsune. The little boy pulled down his eyelid and wiggled deeper into Kagome's lap.

"Dammit. Fine…" Inuyasha thrust his forearms into his sleeves. "Okay, first off, I don't know why we have to play anything in the first place. What's wrong with just talking? Or even better, not talking?"

"That's one messed-up truth," Kagome noted dryly. "Two more, one true and one a lie."

"I know, wench." He crossed his legs again. "I don't like any of you…and I hate the wolf. There, dammit. That's three."

"You do like us, then?" Shippou piped up.

Inuyasha lifted the corner of his upper lip to show one fang warningly. "Who said that, runt?"

"Unless you really wanted to play or you like Kouga-kun, then you've gotta like at least one of us…unless you were cheating." Kagome affected a pose of utmost thoughtfulness. "You're too cranky to like games…" She tilted her head. "So you and Kouga-kun have just been playfighting this whole time?"

"Shut up!" Inuyasha snarled. "I fucking hate him!"

"Why is that?" Kagome asked curiously, willing to let him off the hook for now, before Sango or Miroku could jump in and make him regress any further. "He was here on behalf of his pack, right? Why do you guys hate each other so much?"

Inuyasha mumbled something under his breath, growing more and more surly as she watched. "What was that, Inuyasha?"

"I believe he said something about the fact that Kouga stole his sushi," Miroku replied solemnly, though his face was obviously having trouble keeping still.

"Most likely," Sango agreed, and from her voice one could also deduce difficulty in remaining somber. "It was an interesting story, to say the least—oh!" She coughed, then leaned over urgently. "Do you still have the mirror? We could always show you."

"No way in hell!" Inuyasha protested, but Miroku was already moving aside so Kagome could retrieve the velvet-wrapped bundle from under the bed. "Aw, c'mon, bouzu!"

"Sango-sama is too weak to attempt displaying it, and Kagome-sama's education is not complete without seeing the incident firsthand," Miroku declared haughtily, blocking Inuyasha's attempts to grab the mirror away with his staff. "How else would she understand the origins of one of the more important – if antagonistic – relationships of her acquaintance?"

"It's not a relationship! That makes it sound like…" Inuyasha made a face that would've turned milk sour straight from the udder. "It's not a relationship, dammit!"

"The point is, Inuyasha, if Kagome-sama wants to see and we have the means at our disposal, it would be rude not to show her." Miroku swatted another long-clawed grab away and crouched over the mirror, nearly holding it on his lap so that Kagome, Shippou and Sango could place their fingers on the rim safely. He glanced at Kohaku. "Would you like to watch? I'm not sure if you saw it the first time."

"All right…" Swallowing nervously, the boy tentatively rested his forefinger on the rim, relaxing visibly when nothing happened.

"This is such bullshit," Inuyasha blustered, getting to his feet again and crossing his arms angrily. "I'm gonna go take a bath. You idiots have fun playing with that stupid thing."

Kagome wondered about the reaction as the world faded to black and the sounds of his muted stomping – he would have punched through the floor had he put any appreciable amount of strength in it – also died away to nothing. What, did Kouga beat him up in front of everyone over…sushi? This is gonna be bad…

"Keep your eyes to the sides," Miroku's voice instructed softly as the mirror's light shimmered into a view of the courtyard at midday, facing the castle entrance. A pre-teen-ish Inuyasha was strutting around at a slight distance, blurry but visible, taking drawn-out bites of something in one hand and clutching something else in the other. "He was allowed to keep some sushi made with special meats that were a gift to his father from Kouga as part of a large peace offering. Inuyasha was not very modest about the honor, either. Watch carefully, now."

The miniature Inuyasha stuffed the rest of the tiny roll into his mouth, chewed with exaggerated relish and swallowed, turning to speak to a demon guard who had strolled up near his shoulder. One hand raised the other sushi roll to his mouth, and the viewpoint shifted slightly as a blur of brown came running in from around the side of the castle,leapt toa dead standstill just in front of Inuyasha, and resumed its path, leaving Inuyasha to absently raise his now-empty hand and sink his teeth into it.

The guards and servants in the vicinity erupted into laughter, some even calling others over to watch the young hanyou shake his hand and shake a fist in the wolf's direction, no doubt cursing him to all sorts of eternal torment. Kagome would've felt sorry for him if he hadn't been such a showoff about it. They shouldn't have all laughed like that, but he did deserve…to…wait a minute…

Miroku frowned as he heard her lean over, trying to study the surface in greater detail. Then his eyes went wide. "That's all, Kagome-sama!" He whipped his hand away, and she nearly fell over as dim light flooded her eyes and Miroku swiftly removed the mirror. "So, now you see why Inuyasha has never been kindly disposed towards Kouga."

Kagome nodded absently, rubbing her eyes. "Inuyasha looked kinda…different."

"He was younger," Sango supplied, stretching herself leisurely and giving an ostentatious yawn. "You should have seen Kouga after he was away safely, Kagome-chan. He had the thing in his mouth before Inuyasha even blinked, and he was giggling like mad the whole time. I've never seen anything so childish, but it was very funny."

Kagome pictured it and had to laugh. "I guess so. Are you getting tired, Sango-chan?"

"A bit." Sango straightened the covers beneath her and sighed, letting her eyes drift shut. "I'm so sorry for occupying your bed without your permission. Blame the houshi-sama for that."

"No, no, he was right. I would've insisted if I was here," Kagome said firmly, rising and patting her friend's arm. "I'll sleep in your futon."

"Ah…" Kohaku coughed slightly. "Kagome-sama? The laundry women said your cat marked it as it hung on the line. They had to clean it again, and it's not dry yet."

"Oh." Kagome blinked. Dammit, Buyo. "I'll use a spare one, then."

"Well, um, Buyo marked several other ones, too." Kagome closed her eyes in total agony. Why couldn't he have been fixed before we found him?! "They said the others have all been put in other rooms, and to take one at your leisure—there's one in the houshi-sama's room ready, and any of the servants will give up theirs if you ask." Kohaku flushed. "I was supposed to tell you earlier. I'm sorry."

"It's all right, Kohaku-kun," Kagome assured him. "I'm not too big on taking away people's beds because my stupid cat peed all over the others. I'll just sleep on the floor with one of the blankets."

"That's really not necessary, Kagome-sama," Miroku said smoothly, and both women looked at him suspiciously. "My own futon was laundered just this morning, and I insist that you take it."

"Oh, no, Miroku-sama, that's all right," Kagome demurred, shaking her head slightly and smiling. She'd been expecting something much worse than that. We should really give him more credit. "I wouldn't want anyone to have to move it all the way from your room to here."

"No one will have to move it if you simply sleep in my room." Miroku raised his hands in a guileless shrug.

Sango's mouth fell open. Then she shut it, and looked at Kagome curiously.

"Uh—" Kagome blinked, tried again, and had to settle for a moment of just gaping. "But…but Inuyasha—"

"He won't harm or bother you, Kagome-sama, and if I stay in here, we know that Sango-sama will be cared for instantly if she should have any trouble during the night." She had to give him credit: it actually almost sounded logical. "You had a difficult time last night, didn't you, Kagome-sama? Much as I know you're concerned for Sango-sama, she may very likely become ill again before the sun rises, and I'd be glad to take care of her in your stead." Miroku injected just the right amount of hurt resignation into the uncertain silence. "Of course, if you think I would ignore her infirmity and possibly put her under physical distress, I protest the lack of trust, but I do suppose we could always fetch Kaede instead to—"

"All right!" Kagome threw up her hands. "Okay! Fine! Shippou-chan, you and Kohaku-kun bunk together tonight." The kit and the boy brightened. "I'm gonna go take a bath and then break it to him. If he wants to kill something, I'll make him come here, okay?"

Kohaku started to say something, but Miroku coughed and spoke over him as Kagome gathered clean clothes. "Of course, Kagome-sama. Thank you for your understanding. We will see you both in the morning, and hopefully under better circumstances. Sango has yet to finish her part of the game as well, of course…"

The pleasant nammering had the desired effect; Kagome was so lost in thought over the ramifications of sleeping in the room next to Inuyasha's and berating herself – we've slept, what, two feet apart, and squashed back to back, and nothing happened ­– that she failed to read amused glances sent her way as she headed into the baths, set her things down and started to disrobe on the cleaning area. Maybe I can just go in and he won't even notice…

"Aren't we being forward tonight?"

Kagome dropped to her knees reflexively, clutching her kimono collar tighter and whipping her head around. Inuyasha was lounging alone in the biggest tub, arms spread over the back, apparently unconcerned with his state of undress. She was up and halfway to the door when he chuckled lazily and sat up. "Where you going? You still smell like sweat, y'know."

"I'm going to bed," she snapped, turning her head just enough to be aware that if she looked again, the steam probably wouldn't be in the way any more… "I'll s—I mean, good night."

"G'night," Kagome heard him call smugly. Then, the sound of water splashing and the slap of wet footsteps. "Oi! Wait a sec, I gotta ask—"

"Later!" In a stroke of inspired evil, she waited till he was almost to the door, then willed herself up and into Miroku's room, leaving Inuyasha to stand in the corridor, dripping, cursing and glaring at servants unlucky – lucky? – enough to catch an eyeful as they passed. She's gonna pay for this…!

"That wasn't very nice, houshi-sama," Sango scolded half-seriously as Miroku closed off the light and began removing his outer garments. "They're going to kill each other."

"No, they're not. Kagome-sama's honor is in more danger than her life," he said carelessly, feeling in the dark for her legs and sitting down not on them. "Trust me, I've experienced enough of the symptoms myself."

"Except you partook of the cure freely," Sango retorted, and stiffened as he climbed over her and settled down along her back. "What are you doing?"

"This space is more than adequate for the two of us, and muchmore pleasant thanthe forest floor." Miroku rubbed her arm lightly. "And I'll have you know that I only received what I needed a few short weeks ago. The rest was just distraction."

"Flatterer." Sango still wasn't used to his compliments, though she found that it became easier with practice. She let herself melt back against him, offering no resistance as his hand wandered a bit more freely. "Don't start what I'm not capable of finishing."

"Mmmmm. Indeed." He let it drop with a sigh and contented himself with nuzzling her neck instead, restraining his less noble urges and pressing his lips under her ear lightly. "I wonder…"

"Hmmm?" She yawned and shifted onto her stomach. Miroku remained on his side and began to rub her back with his left hand, applying slight pressure to the tension lining her shoulders. It still amazed him how soft her skin could be when the muscle underneath was as solid as his…but, he reminded himself with a little sigh, now was not the time for rediscovery. Perhaps this is why old Mushin recommended women who can entertain with their minds as well as their… He suppressed a snort at the terminology his guardian had used. Never mind.

Miroku let his hand rest, then ran his fingertips up and down her back in slow, firm glides. "I wonder if Kagome-sama has any idea of it. I've never seen anyone so patient with Inuyasha."

Almost lulled into sleep, Sango blinked and mumbled something, turned her head to cough, and shook her head at his soft inquiry. "No, I'm all right, Miroku. But Kagome-chan…" She sighed.

He remained quiet, trailing his hand up to her head and working through thick, soft hair to begin massaging her scalp. Sango stretched luxuriously, sighing long and low, then tilted her head so he could reach her neck. "I'll have to remind her to start taking her tea tomorrow. If Inuyasha smells her once more, I don't know if he'd be able to control himself…or if she'd stop him."

"Really?" Miroku paused, resuming with another stern self-reminder that he had to keep his hands under control at her contented little noises. "I hadn't thought of that. He does seem more attached to her than anyone else who's known him such a short time."

"He's more attached than he is to anyone else, period. I've never seen him watch any other woman so constantly, except perhaps…" His hand slowed as she fell silent. "Anyone else would've discerned how Kagome-chan feels by now, but not him." Sango grimaced as her stomach knotted, and she drew her knees up, turning back onto her side so that his hand fell away. "She's too proud and too respectful of his idiot feelings to say anything, and he may not ever figure it out. I'm afraid he just might not…" She shuddered, curling into a ball.

"We don't know about that," Miroku said soothingly, easing her back against him and combing his fingers through her hair. She caught his left hand in hers, so that he was forced to stroke her head with his right. It made him nervous, but she always maintained thathis cursewas nothing to be afraid of as it was, and her stubborn courage warmed him no matter how many times he heard it. He buried his face in her shoulder and inhaled deeply, glad that his senses weren't like Inuyasha's: he could pick out the warm, familiar smell of her skin, clothes, and the fruity stuff Kagome had given her to use on her hair, but not the stink of sickness. Not that that would have kept him away from her, of course – he was grimly aware that only death could and surely would separate them now – but it did make him wonder, with a sudden pang of melancholy for his difficult but basically good-hearted friend, whether Inuyasha had ever experienced this, holding the solid warmth of a woman he loved, breathing her scent and knowing that she was leaning back against him in complete trust and savoring his presence as much as he needed hers. If he hadn't…well, no wonder he was so at odds with the world. Nothing else Miroku knew of gave one such a sense of contented peace and well-being.

Not to disparage more…thorough activities, of course, he added sleepily to himself as Sango slowly began to relax, but if he hasn't done this, one doubts he's gone further. His loss…and Kagome-sama's. Idiot. Perhaps the room arrangements will give him a chance to reconsider...?

Inuyasha had been more than a little disgruntled when he stuck his head into Kagome's room, ready to bellow at her for leaving him hanging like that, and breathed in a flood of fresh Miroku and Sango scent, mixed heavily with smells he didn't want to think about, but thankfully nothing too serious. Kagome's was stale, and he nearly bit the shoji in frustration: had she gone insane and hid herself outside somewhere to spite him? With the kugutsu running around, no less… I swear I'm going to put a damn leash on her!

The thought made his foot twitch, though, and he abandoned it in self-disgust. Screw this. I'm going to my room, and she'll pro'ly stop in the kitchen later to steal food, and I can catch her then. He checked the storeroom quickly, just in case. Nothing. Dammit!

It never occurred to him that Miroku's presence in her room might indicate that she was in his, and so it was that when he took himself to his own chamber and paced to the window, scowling at the bare sliver of moon just rising past the upper lip of his window, her voice from the next room scared him so badly that he literally squeaked. "All clean now?"

"You…you…sweaty…wench!" Inuyasha growled freely, stalked over to the adjoining shoji and wrenched it open, tearing the rice paper and wood into shreds without noticing. There she was, reclining on her side in Miroku's futon, in a clean, plain white sleeping yukata, smiling innocently. He sank to his haunches, hissing at her in the darkness. "Get your ass back to your room!"

"Okay. Can the rest of me stay here?"

"NO! I mean…NO! Go away!"

"Good God, you're rude. Has anyone ever told you that?" Kagome settled down complacently. "Miroku's taking care of Sango for the night, no dirty remarks, thank you, and he offered to switch me rooms."

Next time I see him, my foot is going so far down his throat that I'll be able to…to… Inuyasha was too discombobulated to think of what he'd be able to do. Something that hurt, preferably. "Get out!"

"I'm not going to jump you, Inuyasha." She snuggled deeper and stuck her tongue out quickly. "And if I smell bad, it's your fault, remember?"

"You coulda come in anyway. S'not like I'd do anything," he shot back irritably. "Now get out."

"I was looking forward to a bath, too," Kagome muttered as if he hadn't spoken, turning over and yelping softly as she put too much weight on her shoulder. "See, I didn't get to soak it, either, and now it's all stiff."

"It wouldn't hurt if you would use it more. Lemme see." Inuyasha wanted to smack his forehead as Kagome scooted away instead, trying to drag the entire futon with her one-handed. "For the last. Fucking. Time. I am not gonna do anything. I just want to see what the hell you did to it and whether you need to stop pretending the damn thing isn't there. Is that acceptable, or am I going to have to knock you out?"

"Try me," Kagome grunted, working the tenseness from her muscles carefully. "If you even think about it, I'm never answering your little sleepy question again."

Inuyasha swore under his breath. He'd hoped she had forgotten about that. "If you let me see your stupid shoulder, you can sleep in here and watch me tear the bouzu's skin off tomorrow. Better?"

"Since you put it so charmingly, you big jerk…" Kagome muttered a few more choice phrases, but allowed him to draw her out of the futon and into his room, where the light was marginally better. She seated herself primly on the futon, slinging her hair over her shoulder and trying not to remember that she wasn't wearing a bra.

Not that it was easy to forget, of course, as he crouched directly in front of her, and though his touch was light and as impersonal as he could make it, Kagome still felt a little wobbly when he eased her sleeve aside, letting her cross her arms before tugging it down to expose her shoulder.

"Holy…" She had to have hit it directly on the bone, he thought, and the force had opened a slight scrape atop the angry purple-black bruise. "Why the hell didn't you go see the old hag and get something for it? You talked to her for how long without mentioning it?"

"It's not the end of the world." She tried to tug her sleeve away, but Inuyasha seemed transfixed, staring at the discolored swelling along the otherwise delicate line of her collarbone till she was sure he could feel the heat her face was giving off. "Okay, fine, I'll get something for it tomorrow. Can I go to sleep now?"

"Why're you being so stubborn? This isn't a big deal, and you don't seem to get off on pain, and you don't get attention bitching about it, either…" Inuyasha's grip tightened. "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you just trying to piss me off or something? And don't pull anything about me hiding shit, 'cause you know I heal faster than you do!"

"I'm used to it, okay?" Kagome's legs would have been trembling if they had been supporting her. Why was he hammering at her like this? "You're worse than Dad. The past few years, if I so much as friggin' coughed, he wanted to take me to the hospital. After the first couple of times, I just wouldn't cough anymore, and it would go away sooner or later. This isn't life-threatening, either, and if it was, I'd let you know! Now let go!"

Inuyasha wanted to beat Yoshio to a pulp—well, at least more than he usually did whenever he thought about the little worm. "You're telling me you're putting yourself through this crap because your father's too stupid to know the difference between a cough and something fatal?"

Kagome stiffened, and the hot sting of anger flooded his nostrils, made his head reel and had him choking for breath, afraid to look up at her, and for good reason; it didn't take a psychic to tell that she had never been closer to hitting him, including their first meeting. Slowly, inexorably, shegrabbed athis forelocks and dragged his face closer to hers in the darkness. Her eyes glittered with angry, unshed tears, but the brown was almost shooting off sparks, she was so furious. Her voice was soft, clipped, and made his ears dive back for the safety of his hair. "Do you know the symptoms of an impending heart attack, Inuyasha?"

Surprise tightened his stomach further, and he shook his head dumbly. Though he could've crushed her with no effort, her grip on his hair seemed unbreakable, and he was scared to try.

"Neither did Dad. They're very simple, Inuyasha. Pressure in the chest. Tightness, aches in the left arm, shortness of breath. Mom had all of those, probably a few more, but she was busy planning my eleventh birthday party and running all our lives, so she didn't have time to go to the doctor for another checkup. Besides, she was only in her early forties, very healthy, so she didn't have to worry." Kagome's fists were trembling. Inuyasha wanted very badly to stop her, but he sensed dimly that to do so would be disastrous, and not just for him.

"So we all go to sleep the night before my birthday, she tucks me in, and I remind her that I wanted…some stupid damn toy, I don't remember what, and she just smiled at me and said good night. I thought it was weird when I woke up again and she was standing next to my bed…" Her slim knuckles were white, almost the color of his hair, and Inuyasha looked at them helplessly, back at her, bewilderment increasing. Gods, what do I do now?

Just listen. The answer came to him suddenly, and he obeyed without further question, though his stomach seemed to turn itself further inside out as the soft litany went on.

"She's standing there, and she looks so sad, and I ask her what the matter is…" Kagome half laughed, half sobbed. "This sounds so cliché and stupid, but she says she has to go, and I know exactly what she means. I try to grab her hand, but she moves out of the way, says she loves me, and then she walks out the door. I tried to get up and run after her, and then I wake up again, and I start screaming my little head off—"

A wall of solid heat caught her up, pressing her shoulder painfully, but she was too grateful for something to latch onto to notice it or feel Inuyasha's hand awkwardly touching her hair as she babbled, losing coherence fast but unable to stop, like draining poison from an infected wound. "I think Dad probably tried to get Mom up, 'cause he had work in the morning and she usually got us in the middle of the night and Souta was still little, but she wouldn't get up, and he finally called an ambulance, but it was too late, she just died in her sleep and I was still yelling and waking everyone up and I wouldn't shut up…"

"I can imagine," Inuyasha murmured. He hadn't meant to say it aloud, but luckily it struck her as enormously funny, even more so than Shippou's innocent comment about presents, until Inuyasha wondered if he was going to have to dig into his stash of sleeping potion to stop her hysterical laughter.

"And then…" Kagome gasped, pounding his arm weakly as if she was reaching the punchline of a great joke, "and then they figure out that I was screaming 'cause I knew about Mom, and I'm busy clinging to Dad's legs – and our housekeeper used this expensive detergent crap that's supposed to smell like freakin' rain, God, I hate that damn smell now! – and the second I let up, Akemi's asking me what I did, and Nabiki tells me it must've been something I did—"

"That's the most fucking idiotic thing I've ever heard!" Inuyasha shook her sharply, only relenting when he heard her teeth rattle. "You didn't do a damn thing to make it happen, and you know it! You just have the worst luck of everyone I've ever known, combined!"

"Try telling that to a bunch of teenagers who wake up thinking their baby sister just won't shut up thanks to a nightmare, and then they find out, oh, wait, she woke them up because their mother is dead and she knew it before anyone else did! They were wrong, but what the hell else were they supposed to think?!"

Inuyasha pushed her back roughly and yanked the kimono sleeve off her shoulder, exposing the splotch of raised, puckered skin high on her back. "Is that where you got this?"

"Yes, Captain Dramatic, it is! I was too out of it to defend myself, so I got too close to the stairs, Nabiki took her chance, and wheeee! Off I went, caught myself on some sharp edge, and locked myself in the bathroom before anyone else could take a shot at me. Dad didn't find me till…how long did I say later?" Kagome jerked her shoulders in a shrug, heedless of the pain or of how much skin she was exposing. "I forget. But that's the story of my eleventh birthday, my big ol' battle wound, and why Dad freaks out every time one of us might be sick but focuses on me. I'm more like Mom than any of the rest of us are, and if anyone's gonna conk out at random from some obscure disease—"

"Yeah, wench, I get it." The warmth was back, pressing against her face, and she realized with a belated start that Inuyasha had grabbed her and put her in his lap at some point. "You're not dying from any heart things or any obscure diseases, Kagome, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get bruises treated when they'll go away faster that way."

Kagome tried to burrow into his front the same way Shippou always dug into her lap. "What's the point? It heals, or it doesn't."

She felt him growling all through her front and in her ear. If it had been softer, she might have mistaken it for purring. "Is that why your sisters are such bitches to you?"

Tears threatened again. Her adrenaline was fading fast, leaving an aching emptiness. Why did I bring this up?! He doesn't care, I don't want to talk about it, it's the perfect combination! "Probably. Can't think of any other horribly traumatic events lying around that might've made them hate me."

The vibration against her face accelerated, and Kagome retreated into his haori again. The material smelled just the way she'd remembered, a mix of pleasantly masculine odors: earth, forest, his hair…

She couldn't escape his voice, though. "Would I be wrong to assume you haven't told many people about this?"

Kagome shoved away, plastered on an insane smile and bowed rapidly. "Hello! I'm Higurashi Kagome, and my sisters hate me because I predicted my mom's death when I was 11 without being able to do anything about it! Nice to meet you! What's your name?!"

Her face met his front again, but this time was pressed there, softly, clearly meant to stay. "Cut it out." Kagome tried to move, and froze instantly at a light prick on the back of her neck, hot breath contracting the skin as she flinched. Neither moved, and Kagome swallowed hard as the forced stillness began to creep up on her. She gripped his sleeves as her arms began shaking again, then her torso, till her whole body was shuddering.

Panic rose rapidly, nearly choking her with the rise of bile in her throat. He wasn't letting her go, and if she didn't do something, talk about something else or otherwise forget it now, she was going to be sick. Reliving that night briefly hadn't killed her, but hosting a little reunion for all the feelings about it she'd safely stowed away just might, it felt like.

"Let go," Kagome managed somehow, and the last remnants of her vision blurred with frustrated tears as she felt his grip tighten. "Let me go, Inuyasha!" Movie and shoujo cry scenes never have the girl puking all over the place, but if I don't get up so help me—

"You're not going anywhere," he said quietly over the thick pounding in her ears, and she could hear herself gulp as her head shook from side to side blindly. "You wouldn't let me get away with starting to talk about shit and then dropping it. Why should I be any different?"

"I have too, you hypocrite, a million times!" she wailed, hating him for drawing her out like this and then making her dwell on the most painful part of her life in detail. "Inuyasha, I'm going to be sick! I mean it!"

He breathed deeply at her neck, rubbing his nose absently on the soft flesh. "You've got a choice. You can be sick now and get it over with, or you bury it again and keep trying to make it up to those bitter, cowardly, lazy-ass whores you have to live with."

Kagome choked out several foul words, beating his chest with her fist and beginning to sob in earnest. His ears pricked as he caught "not fair" several times. "What's not fair? Me not letting you go run off somewhere?"

"No, you fucktard! …Yes! But Mom didn't do anything! Why the hell did she have to die like that?! I got her for ten years! Ten! That's nothing! And why the hell did they punish me for it?! I didn't do a—" the next word was mangled in a gasping sob, "—thing, not one! I had a dream, and I lost Mom, got a huge infection and spent a year away from home because of it! No one even asked me if I wanted to go! They just threw my ass onto a plane!"

Inuyasha grunted softly. She'd never even alluded to that before…had she? He stroked her hair carefully, watching his claws. "Where'd you go?"

"Some stupid place in New Mexico. That's a state, a small area in America, and some friends of my dad lived there. I got tossed over there like a sack of crap so 'the family could work things through'…without me there! I wasn't happy at home, but I almost died away from it!" Inuyasha had never imagined that Kagome's pleasant, expressive voice could get so harsh, but it did, and then some, as the poison flowed freely. "Do you have any idea what it was like getting out of the hospital with a hurt shoulder, being handed a suitcase and getting on a plane without knowing not even your daddy knows when he's going to see you again?" Her fingers dug into his haori. "No, you don't! You don't even know what a damn plane is!"

"Are you always this noisy when you cry?" he asked, half joking and hoping to aim some of her wrath back at him: he could take it, and it would make her feel better than being angry at her father, who was going to meet the insides of his own intestines when Inuyasha saw him next.

"I don't!" His ears flattened again at the strangled protest, and he distantly remembered two or three times he'd seen her crying so quietly that even he could barely hear. Well, that explains that… "Every time I think about all this, I get so upset that I think about something else, and that's what I'd be doing now if you weren't so damn sadistic! I thought you hated it when I cried! Was it all some big lure so you could get me like this now, or what?!"

"Yeah, that's right," he muttered, wincing as the front of his haori was soaked anew and her fist thumped him again, so light that he barely noticed. "C'mon, you can do better than that…" He wondered absently if he was doing the right thing, accepting her abuse and egging her on, hoping that purging all those pent-up emotions would help; it was either that, or tell the curse to rot in hell and go out the shrine to crack some heads, which would not help in the short or long run except to make him feel a lot better. Or, he could always give her some of the distraction she wanted, as his body was suggesting…or he could chop his arm off with Tetsusaiga, but then that wasn't really a good idea, either, now was it? Gods help me if I ever get that stupid…

It was only when she was approaching real distress, hiccupping so badly that she couldn't breathe, that Inuyasha changed tacks. He tried a course of behavior that wouldn't have even crossed his mind much more than a month ago and stroked her back gently, murmuring vague reassurances that none of it was her fault in her ear and rocking her slender, shaking frame to and fro in what felt like an appropriately soothing motion.

Kagome seized upon the new order of things eagerly, having at least finally acknowledged a lot of anger she'd thought buried for good – damn zombie emotions – and her weeping turned from the hard, bitter kind that would indeed make her sick if she kept it up into softer, more heartbroken sobs, furthering Inuyasha's desire to hurt something on her behalf even as he tried to convey some measure of comfort that her big stupid moronic asshole undeserving family had obviously never given her when she needed it most.

Finally, her energy petered out, even as tears were still running down her raw cheeks and she was sure her eyeballs were going to fall out. Kagome swallowed a hot lump in her throat and shuddered one last time, unabashedly grateful for the weight surrounding her and keeping her upright. "M'sorry. I feel so stupid."

"Don't." The single word brought her head up, wondering at the depth of it, and she started as Inuyasha leaned down and delicately swiped at one trail with his tongue, then turned her head and bathed the other cheek in a single motion. "Don't apologize for doing what girls always do, 'cause you need to, and don't feel stupid. You shoulda done this when she first died, instead of getting attacked and then packed off somewhere."

"And had Dad lick my face off when I was done?" she suggested feebly.

"It would've been smarter than anything else he did." Inuyasha tucked her head back against what he thought might be a dry spot left on his shoulder, and she relaxed into the curve without even thinking; he let his eyes shut on their own, controlling the need to do something to make it better. Whether this was some kind of demon instinct popping up to say hello or just a male thing, he wasn't sure, but he did know that if he didn't find a way to fix it for her somehow, he was going to chew through the walls. Very simple, really. "I'm surprised you didn't stay in the other place."

"It was pretty with all the mountains and everything, but it wasn't home, and I still missed my family." Kagome made a face, sniffling, then made a slightly different face at the thought of what a mess she had to be making all over his haori. "My twelfth birthday, I got so homesick that I actually got sick, so they took me back home soon after that."

"That musta been a fun homecoming." Inuyasha shifted her onto his right leg so he could bring the other up as a backrest and leave his hands free.

"I don't want to talk about it any more. But thanks for being sadistic. I kinda feel a little better." She might consider seeing a therapist after all this was over, but for the moment, this was even better. Kagome sniffled again and drew her limbs in closer, and Inuyasha draped his arm over her shoulders so that his sleeve almost created a curtain around her body. The last remnants of tension eased from her muscles as she savored the feeling of being hidden, resting her cheek against his heart with a sigh. "So much for forgetting about angst, huh?"

"Feh. I knew it wouldn't work." Inuyasha traced the scar's edges carefully, resting his hand between her skin and his haori. "There's gotta be a halfway point between agonizing about crap and pretending everything's perfect. Maybe starting tomorrow…" He shrugged. "You feel any better?"

Was he kidding? She hadn't felt so safe in years. "I don't think I'm gonna puke all over your futon, if that counts for anything. And I think you're right about the halfway thing, but I vote we quit talking about it now. Talking is almost as bad for you as thinking."

"So you say we should just sit there and drool instead?" Kagome giggled quietly. Inuyasha allowed himself the ghost of a smile. "That might just be a better idea. It'd take a while to get used to never being dry again, but we can try it if you want."

"No, that's okay, Doc, but thanks anyway." Her eyes had adjusted just enough to the darkness to enable her to lean back, push herself up, lift his sleeve out of the way and aim a mock serious look in his direction. "I hate to break it to you, but not too deep down, you're a good guy. Don't expect me to keep it secret forever, either."

The lingering taste and scent of her tears reminded him to keep his hands out of serious trouble, but couldn't quite halt a brief exploration of her bare upper back – just checking to make sure she was relaxed, of course, nothing more – before he eased her yukata closed and shifted to let her move away if she so chose now that that protective urge was gradually ebbing away. It still took him a second to forget the feel of her skin and remember what she had said, though. "Keh. You're crazier than I thought."

Kagome pouted as he lifted his arm and the haori away, forgetting that he could see her in the dark, and Inuyasha snorted gently. If that expression was supposed to be anything other than unfairly cute, it had failed miserably—not that she was doing it on purpose, he was sure, but that only made it all the more appealing. "What? I've called you worse than that."

"Not that! I just like hiding. It's fun pretending no one can find you." She snuggled back down, poking his chest idly. "I seem to recall something about you falling asleep in your mom's clothes, and I doubt those were kept out in the open."

"I'm gonna kill the bouzu for that one," Inuyasha grumbled, though any anger he might've been able to dredge up was quenched by the sensation of her shoulders shaking in laughter instead of sorrow. He replaced his arm without thinking, and Kagome gleefully pulled the drape of rough red fabric over her head. It was all he could do not to laugh outright. "Have I ever told you how weird you are?"

"You can't tell me anything, 'cause I'm not here" was her slightly muffled reply. She squeaked and clutched it tighter as he tugged his arm up, smirking. "No! Mine!"

"Even though I've been wearing it my whole life and it's attached to me?" Tug. She's feeling better enough to screw around. Good. I think.

"Uh huh. 'Cause I said so." She pulled it back down to frame her face. "As you can clearly see, mine."

"I thought you wanted to go to sleep?" Tug tug. He was mildly surprised to discover that what he usually would've thought of as tolerating her stupidity was actually more like playing, and what was more, it was even kind of fun. Who knew?

"That was before I remembered that you were wearing my haori." Kagome made a razzing sound.

"If you're not here, how can you be wearing anything?" he countered, tapping her back gently with his knuckles.

Kagome giggled. "You're learning!" She drummed her fingers on his chest. "But if I was anywhere, I'd be wearing something, unless I was in the tub, maybe. And this is not the tub, 'cause if it was, my hair wouldn't be stinky."

Inuyasha thought about that for a moment. His crusty side couldn't believe he was participating in such a stupid argument, but he silenced it by wondering what it would make him if he were to lose it. "Well, what if your hair's not stinky?"

"Ah, but it is, and very stinky, too. I could smell it on the sleeping bag when I woke up this morning." She frowned, and the whimsy dropped from her tone. "Can't believe that was just this morning. What is it with days getting so long lately?"

"They can't keep it up. Just look at it that way." Inuyasha smoothed the tangled mass away from her shoulders and ran his hand down her back absently, then caught himself for the first time. "Oh. Sorry."

"If you apologize for touching me one more time, I'm going to have Ginta buy enough dog whistles for everyone in the castle and hand them out," Kagome muttered, tapping his shoulder irritably. "Remember the first time I grabbed your hand? Your head almost exploded."

"You took me by surprise, that's all. I wasn't used to the idea of anyone thinking it was okay to grab someone for no reason," he said with a touch of his usual defensiveness, and she winced. "Are you sure you don't think it's pushing it?"

"Pushing what? Maybe a couple of societal norms, but I'm not giving you permission to grope me or anything. We're friends, so touching my back or my hair when I'm upset is sweet, not indecent." She paused, choosing her words very carefully. "And like I said, so long as you're not in public and doing…anything else, kissing someone you're not married to isn't a mortal sin, either."

He grunted, but that was all. Kagome felt the rough outer material of his sleeve absently, seizing upon the excuse to change the subject. "What is this, anyway?"

"Fire-rat fur." She started. "Dunno if they even exist anymore, but that's what it is. Had it since I was a pup. It's linked to my youki, so it's grown with me. Guards against most arrows and human swords, too." A light, wet stroke on her neck made her jump again. "You better now?"

"Uh…yeah." Kagome felt a bit silly. First I play therapy patient, then I act like a preschooler, and now I try to convince him that making out is perfectly normal. I'm still on a roll. A very stupid roll. Well, he'd been remarkably patient with her, and even he had to see now how much she trusted him, so that was something…

"I guess it would be kind of dumb to ask if you…" His voice startled her yet again. Warm breath hit her face with his short sigh, and he picked up one of her hands, stroking the back absently with the rough pad of his thumb. "Put it this way. You want…to…talk about anything else before we…you go to sleep?"

"Talk…?" Kagome flushed at the small gesture and tried to puzzle out his odd tone. "Not that I can think of…" She sat up straighter and ran her free hand over his front till she relocated a forelock and tugged at it. "Thanks again for putting up with me. It couldn't have been much fun to hear."

"I already told you, if you want to bitch about something, don't let me stop you," he said gruffly. Aw, dammit… Too late.There went that protective thing again. Almost against his will, his arm caught her back up, and she twisted around to look towards him curiously.

Old habits die hard, and thus it was that Inuyasha almost forced himself to put her down. But, recalling their talk – more like her talk – on the pavilion, he scowled, and reason took over. She says it's okay, I wouldn't mind it, and she still smells sad…and it doesn't change a damn thing were his only further thoughts. Then he tipped her head back again and leaned down to kiss her cheek; when she almost reflexively sat up straighter as he brought his head up, he mentally nodded and physically took hold of her chin, leaning back in slowly. See, nothing wrong with a quick—

Not only did she agree with there being nothing wrong, Kagome welcomed the touch of his lips on hers with just a trifle more enthusiasm than he'd expected: her arms locked around his neck, and after a few seconds of worry that his fangs would prick her flesh the way she was pressing against them, Inuyasha let peaceful bemusement take over. It was a little unorthodox, but comfort was comfort, after all, especially when he'd been correct in assuming that she'd been hoping for it. Weirdo. Wonder how many other modern women are like that? He shifted her up closer, unsure of why any female would want this from him, but satisfied that Kagome was happy for the moment. Definitely weird—uh oh.

The dreamlike contentment Kagome had been enjoying was broken off abruptly with Inuyasha pushing her back, huffing slightly. "What're you doing?!"

Kagome frowned, opened her mouth to ask what he meant, and shut it with a click. Oops. She'd lost control for a second there, the same way she had that first time in the treehouse. Any longer and he'd start picking up a very interesting scent. "Oh. I…f-forgot. Sorry."

Inuyasha growled so loudly that she ducked away. He caught her and turned her back to him angrily. "What did I tell you about apologizing?!"

There were three beats of silence.

One. Kagome blinked.

Two. Inuyasha's ears flicked as they both digested what he'd said.

Three. Kagome snorted before she could stop herself, and Inuyasha experienced an unfamiliar sensation in his diaphragm.

Another moment. Then they both burst out laughing.

"How…how many rounds of 'sorry-don't be' does that make?" Kagome gasped, leaning into him for support as her ability to sit up straight took a brief Hawaiian vacation.

"I…dunno!" Inuyasha was being much quieter than the time he caught them at Dai Hin Min, but those hoarse, choppy sounds were unmistakably laughter. "So who was it that started that one? You did it, I said it was okay, you said it was okay, I apologized, or—"

"I think…I think it was the other way around, but I don't know!" Kagome palmed away tears of mirth, trying to catch her breath with one of his arms supporting her waist. "Oh, Lord, we need to write this down or something."

"Yeah, so we can burn it," he agreed with a chuckle, and pressed her hip gently. "You gonna be okay walking to your…the bouzu's room?"

"I think I can make it…" Still giggling like a drunkard, Kagome felt for his jaw, then his cheek, and pecked the opposite side quickly. "Let go so I can try to stand up, first off."

Inuyasha rose, steadying her as he set her on her feet, and she rolled her eyes at the slowness with which he released her arm and waist. "I'm not that bad, Inuyasha." She took a careful step, knees wobbling but functioning adequately. "See?" Kagome turned and grinned at the darkness. "It's a special person who can make me laugh and cry, especially when it's a good kind of crying. I bid ye good night, fair sir…" With an exaggerated bow and flourish more out of medieval Europe than feudal Japan, she turned and staggered back to the ruined shoji, working her way around it and collapsing onto the futon with a contented sigh.

It hadn't been concern that made him let go so reluctantly, but she needn't be told as much."Oh, yeah…" Inuyasha roused himself and raised his voice. "Will you marry me, Kagome?"

Kagome smiled sadly at the ceiling, fully aware that she was never going to get used to it. Good, if it keeps me from taking it for granted… "No, I won't. Good night, Inuyasha. Thanks."

"Quit thanking me." Pause. They answered simultaneously, hers quickly and his high-pitched and mocking: "Sorry." Laughter, and Inuyasha lazily called back, "Night, Kagome."

When each supposed the other to be asleep, reflection reared its head; Kagome idly wondered if she should get upset more often as she drifted off, if it meant getting Inuyasha to play around and hold her, while Inuyasha was pleasantly surprised to find that his self-recrimination had gotten the message already. My relationship with Kagome isn't my one with Kikyou, and it won't ever be the same, so why would it be able to screw it up? Not like it'll ever get anywhere near that serious… He yawned, letting the scent left on his futon blot out any encroaching worries about kugutsu, or anger at Kagome's father. I'd go there tomorrow and rip his spleen out, but Kagome wouldn't like that…women and their fathers, what is that? Oh, well. Can't help it, she's just weird. Inuyasha cast one last glance at the next room, unaware that he was smiling absently, and was asleep the second he let his head drop.

A/N: There y'go. Time to do Christmas shopping and other errands, but I'll shoot for the usual Thursday post this week anyway so's I can do some more detailed reviewer responses and actually move time along a bit. (Yes, it can be done—I've been planning the next bit for forever now…) Toodles!

(Oh, yeah, props to Sis for suggestingI adaptone of our favorite family stories to explain the antagonism between Inuyasha and Kouga...and I note that ff dot net is now mashing together three words at a time. Still not my fault. Bleh.)