Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and its original characters.

Chapter Three: The day after

Inuyasha woke up shortly before the sun started rising. He found her body curled against him and tightened his arms around her, unwilling to let her go. As he gently stroked her hair, he couldn't believe he had done it. What of his fears? What of his doubts? Did he regret it? Absolutely no. Would she regret it? He hoped not because they couldn't undo the bond once it was done, and even if it was possible, he could never let her go again.

He kissed her temple when he noticed the difference in her breathing, and her eyes slightly opened. "Mmm... 'morning."

"Good morning to you too," he chuckled. "Did you sleep well?"

"Never slept better," she brought her arms to his chest, "you're so warm... I could sleep like this forever."

"Who says you couldn't?" he inquired. "Do you think I could let you go back at sleeping with the runt?" he scoffed, "unlikely."

"Inuyasha! You don't have to talk about Shippo like that. He's just a little kid who lost his parents. Of course, he wants to be cuddled."

"Keh... A little too pampered," he murmured. "Anyway, it's not like I want to spend the morning talking about the runt." He kissed her, licked her lips and then thrust his tongue inside her mouth, the movement mimicked by his hips at the same time. Slowly he removed her clothes and then looked at her straight in the eyes. "I had better plans for us."

"Didn't you get enough yesterday?" she moaned more than asked while his mouth moved down.

He shook his head, "Nope. Never enough."

While he started making love with her again, he thought, "This is definitely a better way to start the day."

"So... Why don't we talk about this? You know the whole 'let's avoid Kagome for more than a month and then suddenly appear to fuck the brains out of her' thing. Not that I didn't like it," she grinned, "but I'd like you to be completely honest with me now." She started running her thumb over his knuckles.

She had just finished cooking breakfast. After they made love this morning, she went to take a shower, and he joined her again; she was excited about the whole thing, and the I love you whispered in her ears while he took her from behind but it was time to speak clearly now.

Her gaze never trembled, and he took a full breath, "Oh God, the smell." He could do it; he didn't have to think about that now, he didn't need to be insatiable now. "OK... Well... Things started shortly after we defeated Naraku before Sango and Miroku got married actually. You know... like we sort of started spending more time together, and I was kind of more open." His cheek reddened. After everything they had done, he embarrassed himself talking about that.

"Yeah..." she answered uncertainly, "that's why I was so, so, mad at you when you started avoiding me and acting all strange. It felt like you were playing with me, you know? First with the whole Kikyo issue and then when you had finally avenged her and started showing real interest towards me... Puff... You blow me off again. That wasn't nice. I couldn't even get a straight answer from you."

"Yeah... I was a jerk, I know," he agreed.

"You can say it."

"Well, the fact is, as soon as we got closer my instincts rose. I wanted to ask you to be my mate in the proper way." He scratched the back of his head. "But then I started feeling a little overwhelmed because, you know, I had the strong urge to mate you, make you mine, but at the same time, old fears resurfaced. Like... I wondered if you really wanted to stay on the other side of the well with me or if you could imagine a long life with me, change it completely, and so the fear of refusal and..."

She gasped; it couldn't be right, could it? She had declared her love in every way possible; she didn't think he could ever doubt it. Tears welled up in her eyes, but before they could fall, he cupped her cheek and looked sternly into her eyes before he continued. "No, I'm not saying I was doubting your love; that was the only thing I knew for sure. As if I really could ever doubt it." He kissed her, "But that doesn't mean that all my old fears didn't come along. I realized this morning that I was scared because I knew we were meant for each other; I was afraid that if we managed to bind each other, I would suffer more if something happened to you. The only two women other than you that I ever loved in my life didn't live for so long, and I've been told all my childhood that it was my fault if my mother was suffering. I didn't want the same for you. Yeah, fucking pathetic, I know! Luckily for me, I really couldn't resist you anymore. Myoga told me that once I had chosen a mate, I couldn't back up, that my instinct would have risen, and my demon would have raised on the surface as well if I didn't get on with it. In poor words, I had no choices once I realized that you were really for me. No matter what happens from now on. I'm here for you; I'm yours, and you're mine. Whatever challenge fate throws at us, we'll face it together; I know now. You were there for me even when I didn't know."

This time the tears fell, and he ran both of his thumbs on each of her cheeks. "I'm really yours?" he nodded; she smiled and hugged him. "What does it mean?"

"Oh, well...that's simple, actually. When I made love to you yesterday for the first time, my soul called to yours, and when it answered, they merged, forming the true bond that makes you my mate for as long we both live."

She gasped again, "Both of us?"

"Yeah, that's what the bond is for. The merging of souls allows the weaker of the couple to live as long as the other can. You'll age like me now."

She looked at him in awe, and he chuckled. Then she suddenly squealed and jumped in his arms. "Oh, Inuyasha, it's fantastic. I won't have to leave you," she teared up, "but there's something I don't understand. How does this bond work? How can one soul call the other?"

"Oh yeah, Myoga told me something more precise but, obviously, I don't remember everything." He scraped his neck. "He basically said that one soul can call another only if the sentiment is real and pure, and there are no second thoughts, hidden reasons or doubts, etc. Both parties must be completely sure and pure in their feelings, or the bond won't form. That also prevents people to tie unwillingly to another or mistakes you could regret later."

She kissed him, "That's good. It shows we are meant for each other, even if I already knew that," she winked. "So what are we going to do now? How are we explaining everything to Sango, Miroku and Shippo? Oh my God! My family! Grandpa is gonna kill me if he finds out!"

His ears suddenly pinned themselves down, "He thinks so bad about me? Is he going to disown you just because you mated a half-demon?"

"What? No! It's not like that! It's just that grampa is old and he won't like it if he knows that we did that before marriage, you know? Now, mom... I don't know either." She bit her lip worried. "Maybe we could leave this part out?"

"And how are we supposed to tell them that we are mated?" he scoffed, "We would have to marry anyway. It's not like we can live in the village as a couple and not be married. I won't have you living in the dishonour. I will start building our hut, and in the meantime, we could talk with Kaede and the headman."

"It's not that simple, Inuyasha."

"Why not? Don't you wanna marry me?"

"No, it's not that. It's just... Just because we get married in the past doesn't mean we are married here in the future. Here we would be just a normal couple, boyfriend and girlfriend."

"And why it's that?" he narrowed his eyes, "does that mean that others could try to take you from you? That's it, you are going to stay in the past from now on!" he exclaimed angrily.

"Oh God, this is not how I wanted this conversation to go."

"Inuyasha, please listen to me. I'm just saying that things are different in the future. Of course, I want to marry you. But here, a simple Shinto ceremony is not enough to be married. You have to be legally married and to do that, you need an ID." She raised her hand to stop him before he could interrupt her, "And before you say it... no, we can't get you an ID because you have to exist in this era, and you don't. Besides, I'm not even of age. Look, I'm just saying that things will have to be different on this side of the well. We can do what you want in the past; all that I ask right now is time. I don't think we should tell my family yet," she finished.

"You mean you don't wanna them to know?" he seemed defeated.

"No, I want them to know, just, well, not everything... You know... We can tell them that we are together now... Oh, mom's gonna be so happy!" she squealed, "but we can't tell them that we mated yet."

"If you think that's better. I mean... I'm not happy about," he sighed, "but I don't want your family to hate you just because you mated me."

"You know it's not because of you, it's just that I'm still too young, you know it's different in my time. I told you I'm not even considered an adult."

"Keh."

Later that day, someone showed up at the shrine while Kagome was somehow occupied, thus, Inuyasha was forced to get the unexpected visitor.

He found himself face to face with three excited and squealing girls. "Inuyasha! What a surprise!" the sound was so acute he wished he could cover the ears that were currently hidden under a red baseball hat.

"Oi."

"Inuyasha! We came to ask Kagome's mother if she was any better, but since you are here, we presume she feels good. Can we speak with her?" asked Yuka. In that instant, Kagome appeared beside Inuyasha, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Oh Kagome, there you are! How are you? You're still suffering from rheumatism? It really must be difficult, being so young and all."

"I'm gonna kill him! Rheumatism? I'm not that old!" she gritted her teeth and forced a smile. "Oh well... yeah, yeah, I can walk just fine now."

"That's perfect! You can come with us then. We were planning to go to the mall with some friends from school, and since you rarely show up, it could be the perfect occasion to get to know some of them!" Eri proposed excitedly.

Kagome blanched and looked at Inuyasha; he shrugged, not understanding what a mall was because if he knew, he would have refused without any doubts. "Well, actually, I don't know girls, I mea-"

"It's not a problem Kagome, Inuyasha can come with us. He could meet the guys; they are fine," Yuka intercepted before she could say no.

She really, really didn't want to go, especially now. "Well, it seems I don't have a choice," they nodded enthusiastically, "just give us time to prepare." She grabbed Inuyasha and flew up the stairs towards her room. Once the door was closed, she faced the currently unaware half-demon.

"What?" he asked.

"It seems we have been trapped."

"Kagome... I don't wanna spend time with a bunch of squealing girls. We have a lot of things to discuss, prepare. We just mated, my instincts are gonna drive me crazy right now if we spend time with a lot of males too. Besides..." he drew her closer and started nipping at her chin, leaving a trail of kisses behind, "we also have something more interesting to do." He caught her lobe between his lips. "We don't know if we're gonna have your house free again," his breath was hot on her skin; she shuddered. "You really want to waste this opportunity?" he sweetly kissed her lips and then looked fiercely into her eyes, daring her to defy him.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Inuyasha... you know I'd prefer to spend time here with you, but we don't have a choice." He grunted and looked unimpressed "Fine, but you owe me, wench... you so owe me."

Meanwhile, downstairs, Ayumi, Yuka and Eri were thinking about Hojo, who was likely going to show up, now that Kagome was coming. How would go the first meeting between Kagome's possessive and jealous boyfriend and the naive schoolboy?

Once they were on their way towards the mall, Kagome thought about asking some names. "So... any chance I already know someone? You said they are from school, after all." They were walking unhurriedly, and Inuyasha had intertwined their hands; his tight grip was the only sign he was uncomfortable with the whole situation. On the outside, he appeared unfazed.

"Oh yes! Do you remember Kanako? She was sitting next to us at the entrance text. She's bringing another friend of hers and then her boyfriend is bringing some friends of him. They all go to school with us," Eri said; she avoided telling her that Hojo was planning to meet them there too. "They are really cute, and we're trying to set up Ayumi with one of them; Ryuu seems to like her." She nudged said girl, whose cheeks suddenly turned an interesting shade of red.

"Is there a time when Yuka and Eri are not trying to set someone up? I don't know... maybe they could start thinking about their love life," Kagome mentally rolled her eyes.

"I remember her. She is in our class, right? She seems nice. Do you know the people she is bringing then?" Kanako was a free-spirited girl who sometimes reminded her of Sango.

"Yeah. It's not the first time we go out together, and we usually spend lunch together. But you're always at home ill, and you never met them," added Ayumi. "But wait! She's not the only one you know. Ho-" Yuka stopped her slapping her hand on her mouth.

"Eheh, What are you talking about, Ayumi?" intercepted Eri. "She's the only one Kagome already know."

Kagome narrowed her eyes, having caught up with what they were trying to hide. "Girls. What aren't you telling me? You didn't invite Hojo. Did you?" Just what she needed now. The guy who insisted on going out with her and the highly jealous hanyou meeting.

"Well, you see..."

"We didn't know at first!"

"He insisted on coming!"

"Girls! You could at least warn me!" She brought a hand to the temple. She needed to find a way to prevent another world war in the immediate future. That was bad.

Inuyasha, seeing as Kagome was beginning to grow uncomfortable, tried to understand what was happening. She brought Kagome closer and caressed her cheek with a clawed hand. "Oi, what's the big deal?" he asked; the girls cooed, and Kagome was surprised he showed so much with others present.

She started squirming, trying to find some way to explain to him that she always had an unrequited suitor in the future. "You see, Hojo is..." everyone stopped waiting for her answer. She took a deep breath, "Hojo is this guy who is always asking me out, but I never went. I mean... just one time because I was angry with you, but I always ditched him. I mean, really, nothing is going on between us, but he doesn't understand it and then..." she sputtered on.

He growled and tightened the grip on her. He didn't understand the meaning of going out, but it was clear that this male was trying to court her, and he was rather persistent. "So let me get this straight. This guy who wants Kagome..." he gritted her teeth and clenched his hands, "is coming with us?" he turned his face to the girls, "and you didn't tell us?"

Yup, he was really jealous and possessive, the girls thought, noticing the way he held her. "I think it's actually a good idea you two finally meet," Ayumi pointed out.

"Ayumi, how you could say that?" replied Kagome. Of course, she didn't understand; she didn't know how Inuyasha usually dealt with males that gave her too much attention. She needed time to speak with him alone; he couldn't behave like his usual right now.

"What do you mean?" he narrowed his eyes.

"It's simple, really. Kagome already said that he doesn't seem to understand that she doesn't want to go out with him. But if he sees the two of you together now, he would have to come to terms with the reality."

He smirked, and Kagome didn't like the smile that appeared on his face. It reminded her too much of the few times she had seen it on Sesshomaru.

That was really a good idea, Inuyasha thought; he could show off a bit too. "Alright. It's high time this boy realizes that he has to stay away from my Kagome."

Yup, really jealous and possessive.

At the mall, Kanako immediately noticed them. She was sitting on a bench with another girl and four other boys, including Hojo.

"Oh, dear. If someone is listening to me, please, please, don't let them start the third world war." Kagome squeezed Inuyasha's hand and tried to send him an implicit message. "Don't mess up or else..." He looked down at her and smirked again. He was really going to enjoy this.

"Hey guys," waved Kanako, "there you are. You were a bit late." When they came closer, she found out the reason why they were running late. "I see, you brought company," she exclaimed happily, eyeing both Kagome and Inuyasha. "Kagome, it's great to see you again and in good shape." She hugged her tightly and then looked better at Inuyasha. Before she could ask teasingly who the guy was, Hojo decided to speak up.

"Higurashi! It's good to see you. I went to the shrine a couple of times to bring you some healthy stuff, but every time your grandpa told me that you couldn't accept visits or were too contagious." He smiled and tried to get closer to her. On his way, he was intercepted by another male. Inuyasha grabbed her and put an arm around her waist in a clear sign of possessiveness. "Hold up, boy," he said, looking down on him. The stern gaze he was reserving him made Hojo squirm, and he suddenly realized that the girls weren't alone. "Higurashi? I see you brought a friend of yours, or is he a cousin?"

Behind him, Kanako and her friends looked at him in disbelief. How couldn't he see that they were clearly a couple? Was he that blind? Or was it all a farce?

Kagome was having similar thoughts. "Oh, boy. Is he that naive?"

"No, Hojo, he's-"

"I'm her boyfriend." Inuyasha figured that there was no way these humans could know the meaning behind the word mate either. He was smiling smugly as he answered, and he enjoyed the way the wimp paled.

"But I thought..." Hojo sputtered.

"You thought what, boy?" If he kept insisting and tried to challenge him, he would gladly knock him out. He couldn't stand people that pretended not to notice what was under their eyes. Hojo stood immobile and gaped at him. He couldn't understand how it was that suddenly Higurashi had a boyfriend, a clearly coarse one at boot when he had been courting her for a whole year. "Cat caught your tongue, boy?" asked Inuyasha again. How could a weakling like him think he could have a chance with Kagome? With how hot-tempered she was, he wouldn't stand a day with her.

"I... ehm... Higurashi, can we talk alone?" Maybe if he could find some time alone with her, he could convince her to get away from this rude boy. Yes, not all was lost yet.

Inuyasha glared at him so hard that if looks couldn't kill, he would already have been six feet underground. "NO."

"Inuyasha! Try at least to be polite." she hissed. She loosened his grip on her and turned to Hojo with an apologetic smile, "Hojo, yes, this is my boyfriend Inuyasha." She avoided answering his previous question because she saw the sceptical way he was eyeing her mate and she didn't want to listen to him ramble on how Inuyasha wasn't the right choice for him. She mentally snorted, like she could settle with a quiet guy like Hojo after all she had been through in the last year.

"How long have you two been seeing each other?" asked Michi, Kanako's boyfriend. The new guy seemed more interesting than Hojo, who instead could be so dull most of the time.

Inuyasha eyed him and the other two boys, trying to understand if they could be considered a threat. He was going to sniff them when Kagome nudged him in the ribs to stop him. She looked at him in the same way she usually did when she was about to sit him.

"A little over a year," she answered; well, that was kind of true, after all.

"Really?" Kanako inquired. "The girls said you started falling ill around that time. I thought you couldn't have time for guys. Instead, you found a quite fine specimen," she ogled him a bit, "what interesting colours..."

"Yeah... I had little time, but I met Inuyasha in Beppu when the doctor prescribed me some time away from the city. I've been travelling back and forth since then." It was a credible excuse.

"I heard the hot springs there are great," the other girl said dreamily. "I'm Sayuri, by the way. It's a pleasure finally meeting you," she offered with a smile. "These boys next to me are Ryuu and Shin." She pointed at the other two boys, "you have already spoken with Michi, Kanako's boyfriend, and you already know Hojo." That said, she grabbed her arm and started making her way through the mall's entrance. "Come on, girls! Let the boys have their time together while we have ours!" she winked.

Inuyasha grimaced and eyed Kagome. He didn't want to spend time with these guys; he didn't even know what they were talking about and he was afraid he could make a blunder. Kagome looked at him apologetically as the girls dragged her away; they had been set up again.

"You sooo owe me," thought Inuyasha, and on top of that, he was also stuck with that Hobo guy. "You really owe me, wench."

"Tell us, Inuyasha. How old are you?" Ryuu asked when they were alone.

"Two- Twenty," he said; he had almost said two hundred.

They nodded. "Not so much older than us then."

"If only you knew," Inuyasha thought.

"And how have you asked Higurashi out?" Hojo asked suspiciously. How is it that he never had the chance to have a real date with her, and this gangster from Beppu had plenty?

"Kagome asked me out," he said smugly. He was also catching up with this future terminology. "Then we started spending time together naturally, and the rest is history." And that was true; they did spend a lot of time together after all. "I guess it was my luck Kagome often came in... Beppu. We had more chance to see each other."

He smirked at Hojo. That guy was hopeless.

"Well, my friend, you are a lucky man indeed. Lots of guys would like to be in your shoes right now; Kagome is very appreciated at school," Ryuu wiggled his eyebrows. "If you know what I mean..."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and then cracked his knuckles. "Really?" he asked. "It seems I'll have to go visit this school of yours and make things clearer." He will teach these guys what happened if someone gave his mate too much attention.

The guy looked at him, and Michi burst into laughter, "Possessive much?" he pried.

Inuyasha gave him the hairy eyeball, "Keh."

"I understand you, my friend," he put a hand on his shoulder and took it off as soon as he noticed the look Inuyasha gave him. Oook, the guy didn't like to be touched. "With a girl like Kagome, you have to put some boundaries, or guys will think she's free for grabs. Which obviously she is not." He gave Hojo a significant look. "I did the same with my Kanako, and I never had a problem. Guys at school know we're together; it's easier to do it when you go to school together."

Inuyasha nodded. "Well, I used to pick Kagome up sometimes..."

"But now she changed school," Michi explained. "We never saw you the few times she actually came. You'll have to start coming again." He winked.

"Maybe this guy isn't so bad," Inuyasha smirked.

In the meantime, with the girls.

"So, Kagome, tell us everything!" Kanako exclaimed. "How did you get a guy like that?"

"It's not like Kagome isn't a beautiful girl, Kanako-chan," Sayuri intercepted her. "A lot of guys at school would die to get a date with her."

"Really?"

"It's hopeless, girls," explained Yuka. "Kagome has always been in love with Inuyasha." Ayumi and Eri nodded.

"He also has these exotic colours that look so good on him. Why did he decide to dye his hair, Kagome-chan?"

"Well..." that was difficult. "Stick with the truth, Kagome, or half." "Silver hair runs out in the family. For his brother is the same, and I know for sure that his father also had the same hair's colour."

"Really? That's interesting." Kanako shrugged. "Well, who knows, maybe they are albino."

"It's the same for the eyes, isn't it, Kagome?" Eri asked. "He told us once that they aren't contact lenses."

Kagome mentally signed, then nodded. "It's going to be a long day."

A/N: I always liked a little interaction between Inuyasha and Kagome's friends and I'd have liked some scene between Inuyasha and Hojo in the anime, besides that little scene at the school act. Between Inuyasha, who doesn't understand a thing about Kagome's world, and Hojo, who instead is probably the most naive of all, it would have been fun. Until the next chapter when we'll meet Mrs. Higurashi.