Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all the characters, trademarks etc. belong to Rumiko Takahashi and to their other rightful owners. To sum it up: I don't own Inuyasha

"Spoken"

-Thought-

Inu-tachi's Spring Break

Every dog has his day

Kagome instinctively ducked back and tried to reach for her bow, which was in the Sengoku Jidai, when the roof of the well house blew outwards. The lingering screams of her friends were still in the air, the abrupt explosion had caused them to scream out in fright but that didn't really scare Kagome. What got to her was the feeling of youki and the presence of Shikon shards, not just one or two but five… not to mention the extremely dangerous looking youkai who seemed to be fixed on the four girls.

Her friends froze at the sight of the monster and Kagome had to push them backwards and away from the youkai that was rapidly advancing on them. The miko's blood ran cold and she mentally screamed -Inuyasha!- while trying to conceive a method to distract, kill or at least push the youkai back into the well. Then, as if summoned by her mental scream there was a real yell of "Sankontessou" followed by a fountain of gore being splattered from behind the now roaring demon.

Kagome could now see the blur of red and silver that was attacking the youkai from behind and yelled out. "Inuyasha… it has Shikon shards… be careful." This served to draw the youkai's attention back towards the young miko and with an inhuman hiss the monster lunged one of its forelegs towards the now petrified miko. This was the moment that Kagome's friends decided to wake from their shock and did the thing most humans did when facing a youkai… they began to scream.

There was a hot gush of blood that splattered on Kagome as she stared in shock at the sharp object that was protruding from the back of a certain inu-hanyou. She suddenly took in all that was happening around her, the screaming of her friends and the words that Inuyasha was saying. "Bitch I fucking know it has shards but where the hell are they. Get a grip and tell me where they are."

That brought her completely out from her shock of being so rudely attacked in her own time and she reacted almost automatically. "Just below the head, in the thorax…" Inuyasha nodded and turned his head to face the miko and then grinned baring his bloodied fangs "Now shut those bitches up they are hurting my ears." was all that he said before turning towards the insect youkai that was trying to yank its foreleg from the hanyou's body and yelling. "And you fucking piece of shit are going get to feel my claws."

With that he brought his claws down in front of him, severing the limb that had pierced the left side of his chest and then jumped forward in flash, ripping the head off for the second time and then bringing those deadly claws down again plunging them into the creature's thorax and tearing out a large clump of flesh that Kagome quickly ran to and removed the fragments from. The youkai collapsed as the power of the shards left its body leaving the panting Inuyasha to remove the fist thick foreleg that had impaled him.

The commotion and screaming had attracted attention of Kagome's family and they were now beginning to arrive at the scene as the whole fight had lasted less than fifteen seconds. Kagome's grandfather, noticing Inuyasha and wrongly assuming that he was the source of the commotion, charged in with an ofuda (a paper charm) and chanted "Demon be gone!" until he noticed the corpse of the youkai not to mention the still attached limb that went neatly through Inuyasha's torso, at which point he quickly put the charm away and ran to check on the hanyou.

Kagome's mother arrived only moments later to see the brutal scene, there was a large insect youkai slumped on the ground, gore and pieces of it scattered all over and most importantly a silver haired hanyou with a piece of the youkai still in him. As she ran towards the scene she saw Kagome calmly, more or less, get a grip of the limb and in a swift and decisive move pull it out from the hanyou's body accompanied by spurt of blood.

Kagome was calm or as calm as she could be when Inuyasha was badly hurt. In an even tone she ordered her mother to get the first aid kit while ordering Jii-chan to help Inuyasha into the bathroom, something to which the hanyou only objected with a weak "Feh". She then turned to her friends, who were still screaming, and screamed "SHUT UP!" at the top of her lungs, effectively shocking them back into reality. Yuka, Ayumi and Eri stared wide eyed at the blood covered girl before them before starting to all question if she was alright. Kagome's eyes narrowed and she burst out again "Just shut up and calm down… I'm alright it's all Inuyasha's blood. Now if you'll excuse me I need to patch him up."

The girls now seemed to notice Inuyasha for the first time and dismissed the dog ears in favour of the large hole in his chest. All again they erupted into "Gods Kagome you need to call an ambulance, we need to get him to a hospital." and "KYAAA!" and so on until Inuyasha decided that he'd had enough and yelled to Kagome. "Oi bitch… I'm bleeding over here so could you just patch me up please… I think I popped a lung."

That worried the miko somewhat as Inuyasha had not, to her knowledge, gotten his lungs damaged before. In a bout of morbid curiosity she wondered what it meant in terms of recovery time until the worried girl in her overrode the curiosity. She quickly helped her grandfather to get the hanyou into the bathroom where her mother was already waiting with a first aid kit and started to patch the hanyou up. There was a moment of silence during which no one spoke until Ayumi asked "Aren't you going to take him to a hospital?"

This made Inuyasha turn his face towards the girls who, for the first time, noticed the visible signs of his youkai heritage. The furry triangles on the top of his head swivelled towards the surprised gasps of air coming from their direction making the boy flash them a fanged smile. "Feh! What for? I'm not some weak fuc… some weak human." He tried not to hiss as Kagome slapped a part of bandage on him a little roughly. "That is to say that…"

"That he's an inu-hanyou, who just saved our lives by killing a nasty youkai and so on. And his name is Inuyasha." Kagome just smiled slightly at the "Feh" that the boy let out and then continued. "And he's badly hurt so he's definitely going to lie down… Jii-chan, would you take him to my room please?" Inuyasha looked as he was going to object on the laying down part but stopped when Kagome whispered "Baka… the night of the new moon is two days from tonight. You need to rest."

After they had deposited Inuyasha into Kagome's room she had a little private talk with the hanyou, who grudgingly admitted that the wound would take at least a week to heal, especially because of his human night getting in the way. Kagome decided that she would head to Kaede's to get some herbal salve that would speed up the hanyou's recovery and to her surprise Inuyasha simply agreed that it might be for the best.

When she was leaving the hanyou gave her a few parting words. "That bastard came through the well, probably because of the shards it had… so see if you can push a shard into the runt and tell him to try and get through. I could use the distraction." As the miko raised her eyebrow in question the half demon continued. "Those 'friends' of yours are right behind the door with the old geezer and he's feeding them a load of crap about me… so you might let them in before they break the door." Kagome smiled at this and promised that he'd try to send the kitsune to rescue him, something that earned an annoyed growl from the hanyou.

When she exited the room she saw that her friends were there indeed, along with her entire family. She sighed. "Look… you probably want to look after him for a while but bear in mind that he's injured and probably rather cranky so go easy on him." With that she started down the stairs while dragging her mother with her. "Mama, can you take him some painkillers or something? That wound was worse than usual, even for him. So it must hurt… even if he would rather die than admit it." Mrs. Higurashi simply nodded while listening as her daughter described what had happened.

-----

Meanwhile in the Sengoku Jidai two humans and two youkai were standing next to an old well. Shippo was sniffing about and was rather worried about the whole thing… there was smell of a good amount of demon blood and not a trace of hanyou blood, which was a good thing. The problem was that there was no trace of the demon in question or Inuyasha which worried not only Shippo but everyone else as well. After a moment of deliberation Miroku and Sango came to the conclusion that for some reason the youkai in question had either disintegrated and Inuyasha had decided to jump into the well, or the youkai had somehow gotten through the well and Inuyasha had gone after it.

Miroku scratched his chin before commenting. "Regardless of what happened there's nothing we can do but wait. If the youkai was killed then there's no problem and even if somehow got through the well to Kagome-sama's time then we can only trust in Inuyasha to protect her." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Still… I'd like to know where you got those clothes and that weapon Shippo…"

The kitsune youkai in question let out a small "Urk!" when Sango spoke her mind. "Actually I was wondering about that too houshi-sama. It would seem that the outfit is similar to the one Inuyasha wears so I would surmise that they are made by the same maker." She was now fingering Shippo's sleeve thoughtfully before turning at the little kit and trying to project an air of authority. "So… where did you get those clothes and that weapon? Did Inuyasha get them for you?"

Kagome was trying to figure out what was going on topside as she heard Sango question someone about a weapon. She almost lost her grip on the rope ladder she'd installed when she heard Shippo's voice, in an indignant tone, say "Feh!" She was lucky she had a firm grip on the ladder when she climbed up a few moments later or she would surely have fallen as her brain tried in vain to take in the scene before her eyes.

Sango and Miroku were completely petrified in shock, one could almost mistake them for statues were it not for the excessive amounts of sweat on their faces. They were staring at… Shippo who stood between them with his arms crossed in a huff and nose slightly up in the air. Kagome stared for a moment too as this Shippo certainly didn't quite look the same as the old one, this had for one a scabbard strapped on his back and was wearing green haori with blue sleeves and blue hakama pants. Kagome blinked at the sight, it was like Inuyasha's 'mini-me' in blue and green, before shaking herself out from the stupor.

A whispered "Shippo-chan?" caused the kit to jump high in the air and squeak in fright, he hadn't meant for Kagome to see his 'Feh-act' just yet. The kitsune was quickly coming even more distraught by the scent of Inuyasha's blood that was on the miko. The yell of "Kagomeeee what happened and where's Inuyasha?" went unanswered as the miko shook the adults from their shock. Without even paying attention to the kit she said. "Sango, I need Kirara to take me to Kaede's. Inuyasha got hit pretty badly, and the new moon is coming soon so I need some herbs." Sango just nodded and signalled Kirara who transformed into her larger form.

Before Kagome mounted the large cat she turned to Shippo and pulled out a Shikon shard and then pushed it into the kits palm, making him wince in pain. "That youkai got through the well because it had Shikon fragments… now Shippo-chan, I want you to try and jump through the well and if you get through find Inuyasha. He's in my room so you should be able to find it with your nose… and don't forget to remove that fragment as soon as possible." With that she hastily jumped on the waiting Kirara and they steered towards the village.

There was a moment of silence in the clearing before both of the adults attempted to speak at once, again questioning the kitsune about his new attire and moreover his behaviour. Shippo just ignored the questions of "Did you just 'Feh' at us" and "Just where have you been?" and hopped into the well leaving the words "Sorry got to go!" hanging in the air. Both Sango and Miroku rushed at the well, expecting to see the kit nursing his butt in the bottom but to their surprise the well was empty.

Not soon after Kagome returned with Kirara and stopped by just long enough to explain what had happened and managed to question them about Shippo's new gear, of which they knew nothing. She then promised to keep them informed and then vanished down the well. The two humans left on the clearing exchanged glances, shrugged and said as one "Two Inuyashas... it'll be like living hell." after which the houshi grabbed a nearby posterior, which happened to belong to a certain taijiya. The yell of lecher and the impact of hand against face were heard as far as Kaede's village.

-----

Inuyasha was quickly getting annoyed and let it be known by growling menacingly at the inquisitive girls and at Sota who was no better than them. Sota, who knew the hanyou better, quieted down a little and drew slightly back from him but the girls simply squealed. "That was so cool… can you do that again?" Inuyasha simply stared, his growl that clearly stated 'Back the fuck off or I'll kill you' sounded 'cool'. Luckily he was saved by the arrival of Kagome's mother who ordered the girls to let Inuyasha have his space, more than that she also pointed out that the young man was hurt and needed rest so they should keep it down and mind his injuries.

Inuyasha only 'Fehhed' at that, he was no weak human, but was silenced by Mrs. Higurashi's stern voice. "Now don't you feh at me young man… here are some pills that will make you feel better." The grumpy hanyou actually cringed at the tone… it brooked no interference. And so, like a good boy, Inuyasha grabbed the offered pills and tossed in his mouth, then washed them down with the water he was offered and made himself comfortable. The expression on Mrs. Higurashi's face clearly said that he wouldn't be allowed up from the bed in some time.

After Kagome's mother was certain that the hanyou was resting comfortably she asked about the youkai and how it had managed to get into Kagome's time, something that utterly confused the three girls present. Inuyasha answered the best he could, explaining the Shikon shards the youkai had possessed and how they probably were the reason it had managed to get through the well. He also added that they'd have to try and create a barrier around the well so that no youkai could see it and accidentally fall down to it.

Then there was a sudden flurry of movement and only fraction of a second later there was a snarling and ferocious youkai standing in the room… until Inuyasha bopped it on the head causing a nasty bump to form. Everyone stared in shock as the hanyou used his right hand to lift the odd creature by its tail and growled at the thing. He then dropped the kitsune to the bed next to him and pointed at Kagome's mother and said "Oi runt… that's Kagome's ofukuro so…" the rest came out as a series of growls, snarls and woofs causing Shippo's eyes to fly wide open.

With that the now quite nervous Shippo looked the older woman in the eyes and then bowed his head slightly. "Higurashi-sama… I'm sorry for my earlier actions… I hope I have not offended you…" He didn't get any further before he was cut off by the woman in question who unceremoniously made a grab for the little kitsune and held him tight like a plushie and squealed. "You must be Shippo-chan. You are even more kawaii than Kagome said you were."

Inuyasha was hard pressed to keep from laughing, most people would think twice before hugging a demon, even a small one but Mrs. Higurashi didn't simply give it another thought. He remembered well his first encounter with the woman, when she'd not even paid any heed to him being a hanyou but rather had made beeline to his ears and rubbed them. The said appendages twitched with that memory as Inuyasha smirked at the kitsune's predicament… it was his tail on the line now.

After a moment Shippo managed to wiggle free and hop on the bed again, now eyeing everyone warily, he certainly liked cuddling but that was somewhat excessive. Before anyone could say anything more he plunged his tiny claws into the palm of his hand and extracted a shard of the Shikon jewel, handing it to Inuyasha who deposited it into the small glass vial where Kagome kept the shards.

After this the silence was once again broken by Kagome's mother who said "About that youkai…" only to be cut short by the hanyou. "It was just a fu… a small relatively harmless thing, caught Kagome by surprise or she would have purified that." This comment made Shippo stare at the hanyou, the jerk had really been serious about the whole 'Showing respect' part he'd been snarling about… why he didn't even swear at the woman's presence. Shippo stored the information away to be used as blackmail material if the hanyou ever got too reluctant to teach him, Miroku and Sango certainly would never let him live this one down.

Shippo was brought back to the present by the calm voice of Kagome's mother. "Yes Kagome said as much, not about the purifying part, but… this one had five shards in it. Kagome also said that you could have taken it apart easily with your sword… why didn't you." It was a good question to which only Inuyasha could answer and so everyone, Shippo included were now looking at him questioningly.

Inuyasha squirmed a little and then let out "Feh… if I'd used Tessaiga you wouldn't have a house anymore." At that realization dawned to the little youkai who exclaimed. "That's right… if Inuyasha had used Kaze no Kizu he would have levelled the whole shrine." Inuyasha 'Fehhed' at the praise and glared at the kitsune who was too busy noticing that no one else understood what he was talking about and thus continued. "It's really powerful attack that Inuyasha can do with the Tessaiga… it obliterates a hundred youkai in one swing."

Now this caught everyone's attention, as did the battered looking sword that was on the bed next to Inuyasha. Yuka raised an eyebrow and asked in an incredulous tone. "That old thing can kill hundred of those things in one swing… I don't really buy it but…" This was the time that Kagome's grandfather made his presence know, and in a sage like voice he commented along the lines that there were legends of mighty youkai blades that could destroy nearly anything but they were only that… legends.

With an indignant "Feh" Inuyasha whipped the sword out from its scabbard and revealed the Tessaiga in all its rusted glory. For some reason he didn't quite understand the pain from his wound was lessening and he was starting to feel slightly… carefree. Without as much as a word more he pointed the sword at the old geezer and then willed the Tessaiga to transform into its more massive form. Holding the tip of the sword at the throat of the old man he almost leisurely explained.

"This is the Tessaiga… it was forged from the fang of my oyaji Inu no Taisho, Lord of the Western lands." He smirked at the shocked expression on the old man's face. "And it is… what you called a 'youkai blade' jijii." With a satisfied smile he swung the sword a few times before putting it away, quite the feat considering that he was using only one hand as the other was rather stiff at the moment. -Heh showed the old bastard didn't I…- He wasn't prepared for what happened next though as Kagome's mother walked over, thanked him for his consideration and for taking good care of Kagome after which she kissed him on the forehead, making the hanyou blush like mad.

Soon the questioning began anew, with Shippo being one of the primary sources of information regarding youkai and the group's battles against Naraku. Surprisingly Inuyasha, now fully under the effect of a double dose of extra strength painkillers generously supplied to him, joined the conversation and could almost be called talkative.

-----

Kagome climbed up from the well and surveyed the carnage, it wasn't as bad as it had been as the dead youkai seemed to slowly disintegrate on its own. Still it they would probably have to haul some of the larger pieces into the well. She sighed and wondered if you could stick a shard into Miroku and then have him clear the place up with his Kazaana (Wind tunnel). Snickering at thought she made her way to her room to find everyone captivated by Shippo's embellished tale of their battle against the Thunder brothers. Luckily the story was almost at its end since Kagome ushered everyone except Shippo out from the room and opened the bandages. The bleeding had stopped and Kagome could easily see that Inuyasha's demonic healing ability had already started to kick in… wrinkling her nose she applied a generous amount of the healing salve on the wound and then redressed it.

With that done she left the hanyou on her bed with Shippo, who had orders not to let Inuyasha move until she came back.

Soon after she was standing outside with her friends, who, by the looks of it, were taking all this weirdness in a stride. A moment of silence ensued until all of them said at once. "So…" The silence again ensued as her friends clearly expected Kagome to break it and so she did. "So… um… well the thing is that I kind of travel to the Sengoku Jidai through that well over there and uh… well you met Inuyasha, he's the 'jealous, rude, violent and two-timing jerk'… and uh… yeah we search for the shards of Shikon-no-tama and try to kill a bad guy by the name of Naraku."

Kagome was starting to feel threatened as her friends began to stalk closer. -What's with them… they are not possessed by anything are they?- She sweat dropped as they pointed a finger at her as one. "Kagome-chan… you shouldn't be so judgemental." That made the miko to draw back in shock and sweat even more. "Yeah… Inuyasha-kun has been on his own since his mother was killed!" Kagome was teetering on the brink. -What the… Inuyasha-kun- and if that wasn't enough Eri slammed the last nail to her coffin. "Of course he's rude and immature, he's our age and been living on his own and focusing on surviving since he was four."

Kagome fell down to a twitching heap, that only remotely resembled the young woman who had been in its place earlier. With a great effort she managed to stand up and croak. "And he just volunteered this information to you? And what do you mean our age?" Inside she was fuming though -Damn that mutt, he never tells me anything and then he decides to spill his life story to my nosy friends who he just met… I'm going to sit him to the next century. No… I'll wait till he heals up, get him through the well and then sit him to this era… yeah that's the ticket.-

Her planning for ways to torture a certain inu-hanyou was interrupted when her friends continued. "Well… he didn't really volunteer that much but Eri here asked him how old he was and when he didn't answer you mom said she'd wondered about the same thing… and that made him admit that he turned 16 last winter." Two enthusiastically nodding heads supported this statement with a following. "Yeah, that's how we found about him having to grow up alone too… poor Inuyasha-kun being hunted by youkai and stupid humans…"

Kagome just stared at them wide eyed, they were saying that the rudest person in existence was, or tried to be, polite towards her mom. Still it galled her that Inuyasha would talk about 'personal' stuff to people other than her. Shoving the slight jealousy aside she tried to collect her thoughts so that she could answer the inevitable "But… Kagome-chan, about that two-timing…"

Kagome sighed, the day was starting to get to her, and proceeded to explain Kikyo, Inuyasha, Onigumo and the subsequent events in length. When she was finished the girls were near tears sighing about 'How cruel and sad' everything had been… then as one they again straightened and again crowded around Kagome.

Yuka pointed a finger at the startled girl and stated. "Kagome… there's only one thing you can do!" The two other girls nodded in consent. "You have to make Inuyasha-kun yours by whatever means necessary. I mean he's a hunk, strong, and a son of the nobility of all things… Beat him unconscious with a board, sit him until he's submissive but you can't really lose to an undead woman… girl your reputation is at stake!" Kagome was now waving her hands in hushing gestures, which caused the girls to draw even nearer. "You love him don't you?" was demanded in an inquisitorial tone.

Kagome started to fidget and blush and then meekly nodded, only to cause the girls to push their heads even closer and demand. "Do you?" The miko was now visibly fidgeting and finally managed out a strangled "Yes…" making the other girls turn from blood thirsty interrogators to schoolgirls who were cheering their friend along. "There you go Kagome-chan… now here use this if you have to." On cue Ayumi whipped out a large wooden mallet which she almost ceremoniously gave to the wide eyed Kagome.

The girls, their job done, turned and started to mill towards the shrine exit leaving a shocked Kagome waving at their backs in mechanical movements. The girls turned around at the top of the shrine steps and yelled. "Go get 'im Kagome-chan… And we'll take care of that wimpy Hojo… and if you don't want Inu-kun… we'll gladly take him." And then they were off, leaving Kagome staring at their wake, alone in a dead silence that only broken by the sound of the wind and a loud, uncharacteristic "What the fuck just happened?" from the miko in question

Of course none of the girls had been aware of a pair of green eyes who had been watching from a nearby window, eyes that now turned to meet another pair of eyes that had been turned towards the said window. The owner of the green eyes smirked at the blush that was enveloping the owner of the other eyes before stretching and deciding to take a small nap.

-----

Kagome staggered back to her room, the mallet still in hand, startling the two inhabitants of the room. She fixed them both with a glare and then said in a deliberate voice. "Now then… I'm going to take a bath and then we are all going to have a nice and long chat as to why Shippo was 'Fehhing' and why he has a sword." She smiled at the two nervous looking boys and then continued in a sweet voice. "And mama is making oden for dinner…"

Inuyasha, still eyeing the mallet warily launched into an explanation as to why Shippo was wearing fire rat outfit and why he had the weapon. Only to be stopped by Shippo's awed "She's not listening." Indeed Kagome was flitting around the room while humming "Oden… oden, oden, oden yay… ooo-odeen." before dancing out of the room while continuing to hum to herself about the wonderful time she lived in and the greatness of oden.

Golden eyes met green ones as the hanyou and youkai blinked in unison. Then Shippo suddenly slapped his forehead. "Inuyasha… is that package still in the Goshimboku?" When the silver haired boy nodded the little kitsune went into a frantic frenzy, grabbed the vial containing the shards and stuck one into his hand while stating "Don't worry I'll get it right away!" before zooming out of the window in a blur of motion. Inuyasha just stared at the now empty room before mentally shrugging and tried to get comfortable again.

Meanwhile Kagome, who'd been sitting in the furo for a good twenty minutes, noticed that she was still holding the mallet. Sighing she decided to get out of the bath and get ready for dinner… resolutely squashing the oden induced madness that threatened to overwhelm her. She then cursed when she noticed that she'd brought the mallet yes, but forgotten to bring fresh clothes. Shrugging it off as another weird thing that had happened that day Kagome wrapped herself in a large fluffy towel and headed for her room.

As she entered her room she quickly discerned that there was only one person there, namely the grumpy looking hanyou on her bed. In answer to her unvoiced question Inuyasha only half politely growled. "The runt was dragged off by your annoying little brother who was ranting about that 'playstation' thingy of his." Seeing Kagome pale the hanyou smirked. "Don't worry… I told him not to smash the 'magic box' when it starts to speak."

Kagome sighed in relief remembering the time Inuyasha had seen a little thing called TV for the first time, he'd begun snarling and almost smashed the 'magic box'. Afterwards it had been funny when he tried to sniff the screen trying to discern the smells from the people 'in' the box. Kagome's relief turned to embarrassment, however, when the hanyou asked in a rude tone. "By the way… why aren't you dressed properly wench?"

Kagome started to yell at the boy lying on her bed. "Clo-clo-close your eyes and don't peep… I forgot to take change clothing with me when I went to take the bath so don't look." She then grabbed clothing from the closet and was about to head to the bathroom to change when an evil idea popped to her head. -This is my room… why should I go to change in the bathroom. He just has to keep his eyes closed and not peep at me. And if he does… this is probably one of the things my friends expect me to do to 'snare' him so to speak. Hah… that'll show them and Kikyo.-

She slammed the door closed and then said in a menacing voice. "I'm going to change now so if you take even the slightest peek you'll end up in a hole so deep not even the daylight reaches down there." There was a distinct "Feh!" which caused Kagome to turn to the hanyou and yell "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" This caused the said boy to quickly slap his right hand over his already closed eyes and made Kagome to 'hmph' victoriously.

Kagome, while blushing, was dressing quickly. She'd just gotten her underwear and was reaching for her skirt when a package came flying her way. She instinctively grabbed the package and turned to yell at the boy who'd thrown it. "I said don't look you hentai!" To her amazement the hanyou had again covered his face with his hand. The miko's gaze went from the hanyou to the package she had in hand and then back to the hanyou who then yelled back. "I wasn't looking wench. It was easy to aim for you because your breathing is so damn loud. Anyway there are some fresh clothes there."

Kagome let out a small "Eh?" before opening the package to find a bundle of clothes. They seemed, at least to her, to be some sort of feminine model of the outfit that Inuyasha and now Shippo wore. With anticipation she quickly donned the outfit and then, after a moment of critical self inspection from the mirror, she asked. "So… how do I look?"

Inuyasha managed to keep from staring, barely. Apparently the seamstress, who'd seen Kagome's likeness when Shippo had used his Kitsune Youjutsu (Fox magic) to transform into her, had been scandalized at the amount of flesh her outfit showed and thus had created a far more daring outfit than what normal people of their era would wear. Namely she had taken the model from Inuyasha's outfit and then 'tightened' it up from certain places so that there was no mistaking that the figure in the outfit was female.

Inuyasha indeed managed to keep from staring and with an exercise of willpower from drooling as well. To a practical eye the outfit allowed good flexibility and didn't hinder the use of bow which was Kagome's weapon of choice. As for the more 'shallow' eye the outfit offered a nice view of the miko's more 'feminine' assets as the haori was strategically tightened around the chest area as well as around the thighs and waist. As for the colouring, the seamstress had gone about using red as a base colour and silver to further accentuate the curves of a female body.

The hanyou in his attempt to appear nonchalant simply turned his head and let out a "Feh… at least I don't have to undress in every battle we have against some second rate fire or acid using youkai." This made Kagome to carefully feel the material and then inquire "Fire rat?" and after seeing a confirming nod, she smiled "Thank you Inuyasha… it must have been hard to get this."

The boy simply turned further away and said. "It wasn't my idea anyway… it was the runt. Now do you think I can get something to eat… the smell of that food is making me hungry."

Kagome nodded. "I'll bring your dinner up here… but don't think you two can bribe your way out of an explanation. He's too young to run around with a sword you know." The miko then left before Inuyasha could object and ran straight to the kitsune they had been talking about. Shippo's jaw dropped to the floor, along with Sota's, when they saw Kagome's new outfit. The kitsune, being himself zoomed around the girl with blinding speed while sputtering "Wow." and "You look great Kagome!"

He came to a full stop though, when Kagome giggled and said "Why thank you Shippo… and thank you for thinking that I should get a new outfit too." The kitsune blinked and let out an "Eh?" making Kagome giggle again. "It was your idea wasn't it… Inuyasha said it was." Shippo began to sweat and managed to put up a finger before stammering. "But it was Inu… err. Yeah… uh right… you are uh… my idea… right… you are welcome."

Kagome blinked at the kit and then smiled. "Anyway its dinner time and we're having oden, oden, ooo-oooden!" She pushed Shippo and Sota towards the stairs while thinking. -So it was Inuyasha's idea after all… that's so sweet.- She glanced at the door of her room and blushed before following her little brother and Shippo who was thinking along the lines of -I'm dead… dead. Inuyasha is going to skin me alive for letting it slip that it was his idea to get Kagome a fire rat outfit too.-

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Several hours later Kagome was setting up a futon on her floor so she could sleep on it. Shippo was sleeping with Sota, that is to say they were probably playing together and Inuyasha seemed to be fast asleep on her bed. She had been feeling rather content after stuffing herself with delicious oden and had even decided to postpone the third degree she was going to give Inuyasha and Shippo regarding the sword, the outfits and their whereabouts during last week.

After a moment of trying to get comfortable there was a low shuffling sound and then a call of "Oi bitch… you'll spend half the night trying to find a comfortable spot if you stay down there… and it's your bed anyway." There was a moment of silence while Kagome tried to process what had just happened and then there was an indignant. "Feh stay there for all I care but don't roll around all night trying to get comfy… I'm hurt and need to rest you know." The last part came out almost mockingly causing Kagome's anger to flare and made her stand up and drop on the bed with an angry huff.

Feeling, rather than seeing the hanyou's self-satisfied smirk she glared at the ceiling and bit out. "And you better not try any funny business or I'll… I'll clobber you." She then let out small "Eeep!" as a clawed hand came around and pulled her right next to Inuyasha who was now smiling like a predator. "My, my… aren't you eager to 'make me yours'. Seriously bitch, you really don't need to beat me with mallets… all you need to do is ask."

Kagome was doing a great imitation of a 'fish on dry land' as the horrendous realization that Inuyasha had apparently heard her conversation with the girls made its way through her mind. Trying to grasp straws she finally managed to utter "What about Kikyo?" causing the hanyou to stiffen a little. Kagome leaned in closer to his face and repeated the demand and was now staring intently at Inuyasha's face.

Inuyasha considered the question for a moment and then shrugged a little. "You know… surviving just for the sake of staying alive starts to wear on you at one point. Kikyo offered a way out of that, the Shikon-no-tama and when she died and I was back in the surviving for the sake of staying alive, and keeping others alive but…" The hanyou began to fidget nervously -Arrgh what the hell, it worked for the monk so I'll just try that- He cleared his throat and then continued. "What I'm trying to say that when we get rid of Naraku… would you live with me and bear my pups?"

Kagome wasn't sure she heard right and tried to contain her madly beating heart. "Was that… a proposal?" Was all that she was able to blurt out, only to have her hopes dashed by "Feh… of course not bitch!" Kagome blinked, this time with tears in her eyes and she almost yelled. "So you are just toying with me you bastard… or am I just some concubine for the son of a youkai noble, a toy fit for the young Inuyasha-sama"

She tried to roll away from the hanyou but was restrained by the hand that pressed her against the dog eared boy even harder. She tried to squirm away and was about to start yelling when Inuyasha finally managed to get through to her. "Baa-ka… proposals and marriages are for humans and if you haven't noticed I'm not a pathetic human. I'm a hanyou… you know half-youkai and as such I, like other youkai take a mate."

This quieted the girl down and she, suddenly interested again, cuddled a little closer to the hanyou's chest. "What does that mean exactly?" She demanded before resting her head more comfortably. Inuyasha stayed quiet for a moment and then launched into an explanation about the meaning of mating, something that he'd learned from the old Moyga.

A few moments later he ended his explanation and then looked away while blushing. "So… err what I was saying that if we both survive this will you… kind of be my… mate?" There was no response and after a while of fidgeting nervously Inuyasha turned to Kagome… and began to twitch with veins popping on his forehead. -Aaarrrgh the infuriating fucking bitch… here I am talking about important stuff and she has the audacity to fall asleep on me. Feh… I'll make her pay for this!-

A/N: About using the Shikon shards to get through the well… Yura got her hair through after she got a shard. Then again Shippo was unable to use the well when he had the shard, Kagome was unable to use the well without the shard and then later in the manga (in my opinion at least) she can pass through without having a Shikon fragment. Regardless… in this story you can go through the well if you have a Shikon shard… 'nuff said!

Oh and the mallet... well its a weapon of choice for plenty of people in both Urusei Yatsura and Ranma½ and sadly is missing from Inuyasha... with the Hiraikotsu being the substitute I think. Well... now there's a mallet in Inuyasha!