Soon after the battle against Yura, Kaede despairs at the childish, contentious behavior of Inuyasha and Kagome. She orders the two of them to retreat overnight to a remote hut and strengthen their bond.

Trust

"I swear to hell, bitch, if you leave and go to your world again—"

"Sit! Don't tell me what to do, Inuyasha! Sit! Sit! Sit!"

Each time the half-demon slammed into the ground, he tried to raise his head and spit insults and dirt at her. Each time Kagome saw that look in his eye, she sat him again.

A crater was only natural.

"What in the name of the gods is happening here?"

Kagome turned around, guiltily eyeing the old woman. Inuyasha scrambled up a tree, glaring down at them.

"K-Kaede baa-chan. What are you doing so far from the village?"

Kaede looked back and forth between the two of them, her one eye hardening in judgement.

"I was hoping I would not have to do this to ye, but I can see how badly ye need help."

"Keh, I don't need shit from you! Just gimme the jewel shards and the wench and fuck off!"

"I'm not some kind of shard detector, idiot!"

"You're the idiot, idiot!"

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not and sit!"

The force of his travelling to the ground caused the branches of the tree he was perched in to break, falling back in his crater.

"Holy gods! There is far too much tension and violent energy between the two of ye." She took a deep breath, closing her eye before opening it again, a new determination shining there. "I know what ye need. And I suspect you do as well, girl."

"Inuyasha's the one with the problem. He's so mean!"

"Well you're a fucking bitch!"

"Sit!"

"Mmmrph!"

"For just a second, maybe five consecutive seconds, could the two of ye perhaps just shut up!?"

Being yelled at by the normally even-toned old woman made the both of them jump.

"Good. Stay quiet. What the two of ye lack is trust. Perhaps ye would build it on your journeys together, but we need ye to be closer. Much, much closer."

Kagome blushed.

"Take this," Kaede said, handing the schoolgirl a bottle of sake. "There's a hut used for just such partnerships a hundred paces west of here. Ye must take advantage of it and solidify your bond, no matter what. It's our only hope to rebuild the jewel."

Kagome nodded in response, sending an apologetic little bow at the retreating priestess. Inuyasha finally freed himself from the weight of the spell and growled at her, dirt smeared on his face and dusting his clothes. Now that they were alone again, she returned his hostility in the way he hated most: ignoring him, turning her nose up, and walking away with that annoying little "hmmph!".

"She said 'west', idiot!"

"Ugh, what does that even mean!?"

"It means west!"

"Si—" She stopped herself, remembering what Kaede had said. "I wish I had Scooby Snacks or something to make this easier," Kagome muttered. "Whatever. Lead the way."

"This is a waste of fucking time," Inuyasha said, grabbing her hand.

Kagome blushed again, her grip on the sake tightening. Gods, she couldn't believe they were about to do this, let alone that Kaede was encouraging it. But as she trudged through the undergrowth, eyes on the twitching ears of her half-demon companion, she couldn't say the idea of it was at all repulsive to her.

"Is this it?" she asked, grimacing at the rickety-looking structure that would serve as their shelter for the night.

"Better 'n the outdoors," he said. He sniffed, his nose coming closer and closer to her.

"Ew, stop!" Kagome shoved him a little, heart pounding.

"You smell weird."

"I just had a bath, you jerk!"

"Not bad-weird. Just…weird."

Kagome strolled through the front door that was hanging by a single nail. There wasn't much to the inside. Unpainted and unadorned walls. A pot in the center over a cooking pit. Firewood in a corner. A wooden chest in another corner. Kagome went to the chest and peeked inside. Bedding. Somehow, her heart rate increased even more.

"Find us some cups. I'll start a fire."

She wanted to snap at him for telling her what to do, but forced herself to calm down. There were cups by the chest, but as soon as she saw the bowls, she reached for them instead, filling two with shaking hands. After a few vivid curses, the fire was started. She hadn't noticed the slight chill in the air until it started to warm up. Going over to her companion on her knees, she avoided his eyes and put the bowl in front of him. For a while, they sat just sipping in a silence that grew awkwarder by the second.

"So we're just gonna get wasted and then what? The old hag acted like you had a plan."

Kagome giggled nervously and took a big sip, scooting closer to him. "Uh, well, she was right about us and the trust issues and everything, so what she was hinting at did seem like the fastest and strongest way for us to be a real team."

Inuyasha tilted his head in confusion, cheeks rosy. It was obvious he was a cheap drunk. "Hintin' at? Whuh?"

"I mean, it's not like I haven't thought about it before. We have been spending a whole bunch of time together lately and it's only going to get worse," she rambled. "Doing this would just make things a whole lot easier for us, you know? Not to mention it'll make working together a whole lot more pleasant. As long as we do things right, that is."

"What're you goin' on about?"

"Don't act stupid, Inuyasha!" Kagome said, cross with him now. "I saw you peeking at me when I bathed, remember? You might have said it was just about the jewel, but you and I both know you didn't have to stand there for ten whole minutes staring at me to snatch it."

He turned as red as his fire rat. "W-W-What, I-I, that—"

Kagome tossed the rest of her drink back, swallowing against the burn, and straddled Inuyasha's lap. Their first kiss was hard, fast, and entirely her. He made a choking noise and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her away.

"What the fuck are you doing, Kagome?" he gasped, saying her name for the first time that day. "This isn't what the old hag was talking about!"

"You and I both know this is exactly what she was talking about," she returned, pressing her lips to his again. "Why else would she dance around it like she did?"

"I thought she wanted us to do trust falls and shit…" Inuyasha trailed off, his eyes examining her face, lingering on her lips. "I don't think we should be doing this."

"Sit."

The bespelled necklace slammed him down on his back and he wheezed, the wind knocked out of him. By the time the weight eased up, Kagome had already undone the ties of his shirt, eyeing the perfect gold-dusted skin that bore not a single sign of injury. His muscles were twitching in concert with his ears as she explored his muscled chest and stomach. There was just enough light to see in the little hut and her virgin eyes soaked it all in.

"Kagome, we shouldn't do this. We should be out there looking for the— Fuck."

Kagome took off her shirt and bra and threw them across the room, baring her breasts to Inuyasha's wide eyes.

"Do I have to play with myself? Hurry up and touch them, Inuyasha."

He remained frozen, eyes never once leaving her heaving chest. She counted five seconds and then grabbed his paralyzed hands, forcing them to cup a breast each. The look on his face only shifted slightly, eyes getting even wider, and a small whine left his barely parted lips. Rolling her eyes, drink beginning to hum through her veins, she shoved his arms away. It looked like this was going to be led entirely by her.

Bowing her head, she kissed him again, one quick peck, before kissing her way down his gorgeous body. Her tongue danced on his flat, hard nipples. The thought had wiggled into her brain and she wondered if they were as sensitive as hers, sucking them the way she wished he had sucked hers. Inuyasha gasped, a harsh sound. Good. He was warming up. Kagome licked, kissed, and nibbled her way down to his hakama, tugging them down. Every single thing she had ever read in Cosmo flew right out the window and all she allowed to direct her was her own desire.

A relieved breath left her lips when she saw he had a normal human penis. Anything else certainly wouldn't have stopped her, but this was going to be a whole lot easier to work with. Jaw straining, she took him into her mouth, sucking the demon cock down just the way she had practiced on cucumbers with her friends back home. Inuyasha's hips bucked up and his groan was so loud and sudden it was almost a yell. Kagome hummed a laugh and continued to work on him.

His hand tangled in her hair and roughly brought her head off of him. Kagome let out a small cry, neck hurting from the sharp movement. Inuyasha was panting and looked angry. It almost looked like he wanted to say something, but she didn't care. Her greedy hands grabbed his forelocks and brought his lips slamming to hers.

"Think for once, idiot," she whispered. "If my mouth is occupied, I can't use the beads."

This time, Inuyasha kissed back, his tongue meeting hers with a groan.

Soon, she was back in his lap, wet panties grinding against his hard cock. His mouth had moved down to her throat and she was beginning to enjoy the magic that clawed and calloused hands could work on her sensitive nipples. When his other hand moved from its place on her ass around to her pussy, she pulled away.

"Oh, hell no."

"Whuh?" he asked, this time dazed and horny more than he was drunk. He blinked his eyes, uncrossing them. "What's your problem now?"

"There is no way those lethal claws are going anywhere near my pussy."

"But I wanna touch you there!"

"Then trim your stupid nails!"

"Keh, shut up and let me show ya you're wrong." He got as far as ripping through her underwear.

Kagome growled in frustration and grabbed his cock, lining it up with her opening and pushing down on it. Inuyasha made a noise that kind of sounded like words, his face buried between her neck and shoulder. The two of them took a second to just adjust. Kagome's breath hitched every time he pulsed inside her. Her first movement was accidental, a little jump in reaction to the half-demon tonguing her throat. The two of them moaned in unison and then she was moving with purpose, bouncing in his lap.

It was too hard for her to move consistently when he was all over her tits the way he was, so she kissed an ear in apology.

"Sit."

"Fuck, bitch!"

Kagome ignored him, putting her hands on his chest to help her slam up and down on him. After a few seconds, he couldn't maintain his angry glare, and he gripped her hips to help her, squeezing her ass cheeks as he moved her. She could feel him beginning to swell and lifted her skirt, rubbing at her clit. Inuyasha's eyes were transfixed on where she touched herself and she threw her head back, chasing her orgasm with rapid circling and burning thighs.

When he came, washing her insides with his seed, she followed, her cry mixing with his. Kagome's forehead rested against Inuyasha's and their breath intermingled, lips brushing together in kisses here and there.

"Wow. I think we needed that," she said, following it up with a giggle.

"We ain't done."

Inuyasha threw her on her back and she laughed in delight and a little bit of apprehension when she saw the look in his eyes. By the time the sun came up, he had fucked her on hands and knees, while they spooned, in missionary, and again with her riding him. Kagome completely forgot about the bedding until it was time to leave and she was an exhausted, sweaty, cum-covered mess with scraped palms and knees.

Kagome scowled. "You ruined my panties and my backpack is all the way in the village."

"If you'd just let me finger you then maybe you'd still have them."

"You jerk! I can't believe you're still this much of an idiot after last night."

"Ever think that maybe I fucked your brains out and you're the fucking idiot, idiot?"

"You're impossible! Sit."

After another quickie, they were ready to go.

Riding Inuyasha's back was a whole other deal now that they had strengthened their bond. One of her hands snuck inside his suikan and the other played with his ear, pressing it to her lips. He almost fell over on his face. Kagome laughed. Sex with Inuyasha was almost like another spell of subjugation. Whenever she wanted, she could make him stop everything and do whatever she wanted—which was always going to be her, since one night together had opened up a world of possibilities in addition to getting them to trust each other.

"Inuyasha, Kagome! How was the— Ye gods!"

Kagome slid off of Inuyasha's back and greeted the old priestess with a bright smile.

"Thanks for the suggestion, Kaede baa-chan! I don't even want to think of how long that would have taken us if not for your push."

The half-demon nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Kagome's good for two things, now."

"Watch it."

Inuyasha obeyed without arguing, not wanting to chance being denied another night with Kagome.

"Don't tell me the two of ye did what it looks like ye did."

"We strengthened our bond like you said," Kagome said in confusion at the same time Inuyasha proudly declared, "We fucked!"

She was silent for a moment, mouth gaping open. "What possessed ye to risk the entire mission like that!?"

"I thought it was what you wanted!"

"No, you stupid child, I meant for ye to do trust falls and shit!"

"Told ya."

The three of them fell into an uneasy silence.

"…I'm going home for a few days."

"Aye, that is probably for the best."

Kagome wandered off, looking stunned.

"Uh, I should probably go with her, just to, uh, make sure she comes back." Inuyasha edged closer to the girl who was now beginning to mutter to herself.

Kaede sighed. "Here, take some more sake."

Inuyasha grabbed the bottle and ran.