Ticklish

"Oh come on, Kagome! Even little kids catch fish like this." It was the afternoon, after a long day sparring with Sango, and the hanyou man was in good spirits. Inuyasha stood slightly upriver from his wife, wading through knee-deep water. She wore her yukata hiked up past her knee and tucked into her obi, while her husband didn't even bother, trudging in and soaking the bottoms of his hakama. The water was still cold, but the river was wider, and the sun shined brightly upon it, making a bit warmer than the offshoot that ran behind her house.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome growled. This only earned a laugh from him. His ears twitched, and he tipped his head towards the bank.

"Hey, you three!" Inuyasha called out. Kagome turned her head towards where Inuyasha indicated. Standing there among the bushes were three young children. A girl and two younger boys. They all looked on with a bit of curiosity at the Hanyou and Miko pair. The younger of the boys, at about four, looked a bit annoyed. This was obviously their normal fishing spot that the couple had overtaken.

"Come show Kagome how it's done. You three came here to fish right?" Inuyasha waved the kids over. Kagome hissed at Inuyasha, telling him not to pick on the kids.

"I ain't pickin' on 'em. I've seen these three at it. They're experts at hand fishing."

The eldest smiled at the mention of apparent skills and tiptoed into the water behind Kagome. She carefully stepped over the rocks until she got over to the out-of-uniform Miko, gripping onto the woman's sleeve.

"Kagome-sama, you don't know how to fish even though you're grown up?"

Kagome gave a forced bit of laughter.

"That's not bad is it?"

"It's okay. I can't whistle, but Hiro can, and he's younger than me." Kagome lifted a brow, but nodded nonetheless.

"I'll show you how to fish."

Kagome looked over at her husband. He had donned a self-satisfied grin above his crossed arms as he stood out and let the kids do the work in teaching his wife this simple technique. He had laughed when she brought up her concerns a few days ago, that she really didn't know how to hunt or fish on her own. Wasn't that the man's job? She had disagreed, only for the fact that Inuyasha did occasionally leave for days on end.

He sloshed back to the far bank to shake off. When he first looked out to Kagome, he was met with the curious face of the youngest boy, obviously intrigued by him shaking off like that. He ignored the kid and watched Kagome take pointers from the eldest child. In no time, the older of the boys snatched a little trout out of the water. His siblings and Kagome congratulated him on the hand-length fish. Kagome looked good out there. He'd always known she was good with kids, as she displayed here, laughing and talking softly with the little guys while they waited for fish to wonder downstream. She was great with Shippo, although she tended to spoil him.

Where was that little runt anyway? The brat had told him three days past the first night he'd return, yet as Inuyasha looked at the pale ghost of the moon, the little sliver was five days full. He wasn't worried about him, but he realized he actually didn't mind him staying all that much—since they got the sleeping arrangements figured out. He actually thought the villagers minded more than he did, considering all the pranks Shippo and the occasional kitsune friend pulled around the place. All harmless, like sticking the lot of chickens on someone's roof, or duplicating themselves to make an out-of-tune choir for the men trying to work the fields.

"Bah." It didn't matter that the kid was late, he'd show up sooner or later. Inuyasha spread out in the shade, since it was still hot out in the sun. Maybe Shippo had gotten himself disqualified from something again. He was usually reluctant to come back and tell everyone if that happened. That had explained his tardiness to return on several occasions.

He heard a squeal, followed by a loud splash and nearly groaned. He opened one eye to glance upon the empty space where his wife had just been standing. She came up sputtering, but then laughed at herself, holding up her prize in one hand. He sat up halfway, surprised she had actually managed it so soon. And the fish she held wasn't small either.

"Good job, Kagome," he muttered as his lovely young wife stood and examined the flopping trout she held by the tail.

Kagome smirked at her husband as he examined the fish his wife had caught. Good size too. These were all they really needed for dinner.

"Well, I guess you can do something right, after all," he teased.

"Hey!" Kagome frowned in mock offense. She couldn't help the smile that interrupted the frown though. She flapped her sleeves before she tucked her hands behind her back. Her yukata was already dry from the time spent catching the last few fish. Inuyasha went inside to grab a knife when Kagome stopped him.

"There's something else I wanted to try too," she called from outside the door.

Inuyasha set the fish down to return outside.

"Well, you know I've been practicing making barriers and stuff, right?"

He lifted an eyebrow.

"I was wondering if you'd let me test one on you, to see if one worked—one of the ones to conceal my presence—not anything that might hurt you, of course!" Kagome snapped her jaw shut with the final words. Maybe she was asking too much, after all. She thought that some of that had come out wrong. She didn't want to use him as a guinea pig for new abilities really. Or did she? What would you call that, she just wanted practice! There was no way a concealment spell or barrier would hurt him, right?

Inuyasha quirked a curious brow, staring his lovely young wife up and down for a second.

"A concealment spell won't work. I could track your scent to the ends of the earth, and there's no way to hide that," he said arrogantly.

"Ah, no. This one will work especially well with those who rely in their nose," she argued. He scoffed. There was no way that would work. Just because there were barriers had had been held back by, it didn't mean he hadn't been able to sniff his way to them. For all the senses he relied on, his sense of smell way the one he trusted most. Kagome gave him a suspicious look, folding her arms behind her back, seeming to consider something for a moment. He was surprised when she darted forward and grabbed onto his shoulders. He looked at her curiously, while his hands automatically wrapped around her. She was up to something…that look was almost like the one she got whenever she'd tried her hand at matchmaking. Suddenly, she leaned up and pecked him on the cheek. His look became even more puzzled when she pushed against his chest. He released her…and she turned around and sprinted into the woods.

'Wait. What?' He stood there, dumbfounded as he watched the blue of her yukata being concealed by the green of the forest. Did she mean for him to chase her? What was she doing?

"She's playing a game," he muttered. A broad smirk grew on his lips as he hunched down in preparation for his ascent into the treetops. Weren't they a little old for tag? Wasn't she a little outmatched for a game requiring physical skill? She had to know chasing games were any demon's favorites, and Inuyasha was no different.

"Ten, nine, eight," he counted down for her head start. It was only fair. Technically. Blindfolding him and stuffing wax in his ears would still leave him with his nose, and that was still an unfair advantage.

"Three, two…one!" He leapt up above the path she had taken. He looked down below as he made his way in the direction she had run. When he didn't spot her immediately, he chuckled. She was playing hide-and-seek was she? He pounced back down to the earth and picked up on her scent. He gave her plenty of room to get ahead of him as he slowly meandered along her scent trail.

He followed the trail…until he couldn't anymore. He stopped and blinked down at the sandal tracks when he realized he lost the scent. There was no dilution or waning of it, it just stopped at one point. Then nothing. No tracks, no scent. It was as if she had been plucked from the ground by some large bird…

A distinct possibility in this era.

Wait. He remembered what she was doing. She was testing out her concealment charm…barrier…spell…whatever the hell it was that hid her scent from him. He huffed. He backtracked a bit, looking out for her footprints. When he couldn't find them, he ran all the way back to the house, thinking he had bypassed them and maybe she had gone a different direction. He located her tracks along the path leading in the direction he had watched her run. Through some patches of earth, the ground wasn't even disturbed, and he looked all about for soft earth that would carry a track. He went in one direction for a few minutes, then backtracked. She wasn't very fast, especially when he suspected she was trying to be sneaky, so she wouldn't have even made it this far.

The more he had to backtrack and start on a new trail, the more worried he became. His tracking abilities were top notch. His ears were flicking around, trying to catch the sound of her breath, her heart, her repositioning herself since he had been at it so long her position had to be getting tired. He went back to the end of the footprints for the fifth time. His heart was beating in his ears.

And what for? He knew she was out here somewhere. He knew she was fine, safe and whole—just hiding somewhere. Yet something—something really crazy—was telling him that suddenly she was gone. Gone somewhere he didn't know. He was supposed to protect her, and he couldn't even find her!

It made no sense! He told himself he was being ridiculous. How many times had he left on jobs without her? They both got up every morning and went their separate ways since they both had jobs to do in the village and forest. He wasn't worried for her sake then. This was much the same, she was in his view, and then she wasn't. As it was every morning when he walked her down to Kaede's and returned to the forest. Protective instincts or not, she was just fine, as always.

Ah! Try to tell that to his racing heart!

Kagome watched the noble hunter pass her hiding space again. He looked so confused. She knew he was probably not used to being unable to find what he was looking for. Even when they were tracking Naraku, he eventually found his way to more clues of his whereabouts. Now, with a simple magical game of hide-and-seek, he looked completely lost. He never expected her to perfect a technique so quickly. Actually, neither had Miroku. He seemed surprised that she could conceal her presence so quickly, and hold the technique for so long. He couldn't even do that much.

Kagome giggled when Inuyasha passed by her again, this time stopping and putting a hand on his hip. This had to be the sixth time he passed her without knowing she was actually somewhat in the open. She sat between two trees, just off the main path enough that he wouldn't step on her when he was bounding through. She nearly laughed again, but he turned his body now so she could see his face…he looked really worried.

Should she reveal herself to him? She had no time to think about it when he was gone again. She shifted her legs again. He really wasn't able to pick up on a single thing about her being there. She waited a few minutes more for him to backtrack, and he took longer this time.

"Okay, Kagome? Kagome, where the hell are you?"

He called, this time from behind her. His ears were flicking wildly atop his head and she could practically hear him trying to sniff her out. She watched him for a moment, his shoulders looked tense. The wind blew overhead. He spun at the sound and faced Kagome. Kagome could tell from the look on his face that his heart must be beating a mile a minute. He knew she was just playing with him, right? She wasn't in any danger, there was no need for his expression to border on terror.

She stood, watching him, and making sure he was facing her when she let down her barrier. Any man would look happy to have a beautiful young woman materialize before him. Or with as worried as he had looked, maybe relief would show on an ordinary man's face—but Inuyasha—Inuyasha's concerned face morphed into annoyance the second he saw her. In two bounds he was an arm's reach from her.

"That's where you were? That's where you were the entire time and you didn't say anything," he growled.

"Inuyasha, I was just making sure it worked. Why are you so angry?" She didn't get an answer as she was suddenly scooped up about the waist and held under Inuyasha's one arm. He held her like a fitful toddler as he stalked off towards the house.

"Inuyasha, what the hell?! Let me go," she demanded from her undignified spot against Inuyasha's side. He changed his grasp to set her on her feet. He still held her with his fingertips, so he could lead her back home, but a sharp squeak from her panicked him into releasing her. Kagome jumped up holding her side where he had been holding her. She huffed, rubbing her side. She looked up to where he was shooting her a confused look from the sound of the squeak.

"Don't do that." Her voice came out with a laugh. She watched as Inuyasha's expression became even more confused. "My ribs are ticklish," she elaborated, rubbing around said ribs. Inuyasha blinked once more before his face fell into his regular annoyed scowl. He half-glared at her once more before turning on his heel and facing back towards home. Kagome frowned and trotted up beside him.

"Oh, come on Inuyasha! I just wanted to make sure it worked," she plead. Inuyasha huffed and sped his pace.

"I guess it worked," Inuyasha returned backhandedly. Kagome sighed and grabbed onto his arm.

"Inuyasha, I'm…" she started, slowly, "When you said it wouldn't work, I just had to prove it would, you know?" Inuyasha looked down onto the face of his lovely wife, only to roll his eyes.

"I ain't even mad. Why're you so worked up?"

Kagome sighed, staring down at his chest. She almost jumped when she felt a warm hand on her back, but Inuyasha pushed her forward, along the path towards their home. She complied. That fish should be grilled soon, after all. She was caught off guard when the hand on her back squeezed her body against her husband's. She glanced up to his face, and didn't like the look of his sudden Cheshire-esque grin. The other hand came to her waist, fingers crawling up her side until she let out a laugh.

"Inuyasha! No!" She squealed gleefully as she tried to push out of her husband's grasp.

"You really are ticklish here," he commented. He wondered why he had never noticed…wait…he had noticed a few other places she was ticklish. His hand slid under her sleeves to brush against the soft undersides of her arms, which she yanked in closer to her body. Hearing her laugh made him laugh as well, and he added at little more pressure to the fingers traveled along her ribs.

"Stop, that tickles!"

"Maybe it's payback for letting me pass by you like eighteen times," he chuckled as he continued his playful torture of his wife. She was laughing so hard it was starting to hurt. In retaliation, her hands darted under his arms to try and get the same reaction out of him. Inuyasha did chuckle, but only when he realized what she was doing.

"That won't work on me, I ain't ticklish." He snatched up her hands in one of his and continued to tickle the squealing young woman. He was a little curious to see her respond like this. He had seen mothers tickle their children, his own mother had tried to tickle him before, but he had never tried it. On a very rare occasion, he had glimpsed a spouse tickling a spouse. As Kagome was doing, the tickled struggled to get away from the tickler, while smiling and laughing, as if they enjoyed the act. It was contradictory, the two responses, but he thought the latter won out, with both parties actually enjoying this strange thing.

Kagome was really laughing now, and she was really starting to feel the burn in her sides.

"Inuyasha, please," she begged. He was holding her tighter now, as her struggling had gotten fiercer. Her sides were starting to ache from his fingers poking at her too. This really needed to stop, but she was laughing so hard she could barely get the words out.

"I'm serious," she laughed. "I'm gonna pee, come on, let go."

Was he even hearing her? He certainly wasn't taking her seriously, probably because she was laughing too hard. He was holding her really firmly too, she could barely squirm in his grasp, and she needed him to stop.

"I-Inuyasha." She wished that could come out without the giggle. In a moment of near-panic, between squeals, she blurted out the one word that would get him to stop.

"Osuwari!"

On instinct, Inuyasha shoved Kagome away from himself as he came crashing into the earth, only trapping the bottom hem of her hakama under him. This yanked Kagome to her knees, but he had successfully not crushed her under his weight and the weight of the spell. He was confused about why she'd used the spell. Irritated, but more confused than anything. When he was able to lift his head, he was met with panicked brown eyes and lips that spouted an apology at him.

"I'm sorry Inuyasha! I just—you got really carried away. I'm sorry."

Inuyasha blinked with a bewildered grunt.

"Oh…I was laughing so hard, it was starting to hurt. You couldn't hear me, so I didn't know what else to do!"

Hurt? It was starting to hurt? Hurt from what he was doing, or from laughing? Inuyasha sat up slowly when he was able and Kagome brushed a little dirt off his sleeve. He watched her carefully as she reached up to pick moss out of his forelocks. It was so easy to forget his bounds with her. He really had gotten carried away for a while there. He had heard her protesting too, but he didn't take her seri—

A very odd feeling swept over him. He had thought of something, but it was gone before he could track down the thought, and he was only left with the ghost of the emotion tied to it. Almost…fear? Why fear? He had been tickling her, enjoying it as she had been—until she wasn't enjoying it anymore. Where the hell had fear come into play?

He lost track of his thoughts when her lovely brown eyes turned towards his with a sympathetic smile. He blinked.

"You're alright, I shoulda been listenin'," Inuyasha apologized. Kagome sighed before shaking her head slightly. She trusted his understanding of the situation.

Inuyasha's ears twitched to something and Kagome turned her head in the direction of the house. Up over a log popped a little fox demon. Kagome gave Inuyasha one more look, and he answered with a huff and a smile. Kagome nodded and raced over to scoop up the boy as he immediately went into relaying his most recent adventures. Inuyasha watched them from where he sat, trying to remember where his thoughts had been. Cold, fear, a remorse he didn't understand-that's all he could recall. What the hell was going on?

Kagome called him forward as the kit and her walked towards the house. He physically shook his mind clear, trying to focus in on the nearing dinner, and not whatever dark place his thoughts had subconsciously wondered.

For once, the kit didn't seem like a bother as he chowed down on his fish and chatted up Kagome. He had, like Inuyasha expected, been moping after another failure to move up in rank, which was why he was late. He told Kagome that while they were doing a team exam, a teammate had gone out of bounds and got the rest disqualified.

"Ah, well, I guess that happens sometimes," Kagome sighed for the boy. He was still smiling though, and Kagome tilted her head expectantly as Shippo added on to the tale. Inuyasha chuckled and sat against the wall when he saw Kagome clap and congratulate Shippo on taking a make-up exorcise. She looked like a proud mother, pleased with her child's accomplishments.

A mother. Inuyasha's mouth twitched at the thought that she might someday be mother to his children. And what a good mother she would make! She would be supportive, loving, accepting…like she was with Shippo.

Well…

Inuyasha looked between the woman and child. She had had a fair bit of practice, hadn't she? He had never seen it this way, before, but Kagome cared for the boy as a mother might. She always had. Mentally, Inuyasha took a step back. He thought over the three of them in the room. A man, a woman, and a child. Isn't that was traditionally constitutes a family? Did…did that make him a sort of father figure to the boy? No, that wasn't right. If he was supposed to function as a surrogate father to the kit, he had done a shitty job of it. An elder brother he could see, but a father?

Then…Inuyasha thought that one day, he could become a father, and…unlike Kagome, he hadn't really been practicing being a parent. Would he know how to handle that? Would he know what to do?

Inuyasha's thoughts were interrupted by Shippo's question towards him.

"Kagome caught all these fish? By herself?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah she did," Inuyasha said with a blink.

"Wow, good job!" Shippo beamed, looking back towards Kagome. Inuyasha shook his mind free of his previous thought as another curious one entered his mind. Shippo was a fox, after all.

"How's your rabbit hunting, Shippo?" Inuyasha knew that as part of the training on the mountain, Shippo had learned how to catch small animals and fend for himself.

"Oh, pretty good, why?"

Kagome sent Inuyasha the same curious expression as Shippo.

"Well," Inuyasha began, setting his skewer down, "I was thinking you could help teach Kagome how to track rabbits, too."

"Really?" Shippo asked suspiciously. He remained suspicious until Inuyasha's replying nod put him at ease. He so rarely got asked for any sort of help from the hanyou, the boy couldn't help but grin at Inuyasha expectantly.

"Yeah, definitely. You won't mind, right Kagome?" Kagome sent her husband a sweet smile. She was glad he was being inclusive of the little boy as well. Inuyasha's mouth twitched to counter the effect that appreciative smile had on him—cheeks burning in embarrassment. Did she still have to treat every small benevolent act out of him as some sort of accomplishment?

...

This chapter was from a picture I drew before I even started on Little by Little, before I ever decided to turn it into a story. Just a cute few interactions, Inuyasha teaching Kagome how to fish, playing a game of chase, Inuyasha tickling his wife. All adorable things. Not much of a chapter, but adorable. Also...A little bit of foreshadowing...

Have a lovely day, all!