Flowers

"Okay, hold still then," Miroku instructed.

"Like I got a fucking choice," Inuyasha muttered. Miroku frowned, but continued his work, pressing on the hanyou's shoulder blade with one hand, and getting a grip on his arm with the other. He swiveled the arm until he heard that all too familiar popping sound. The hanyou grunted with the pain, then gave a sigh of relief, shoulder joint back in its regular place. Miroku sat back and sighed.

"It's coming out a lot more readily nowadays," Miroku commented, watching his friend try to wipe the gore from his blade one-handed. From his stiff motions, it looked like he had tweaked his back too.

"Nothing I can do about it, monk," Inuyasha replied bitterly. His shoulder still hurt, and his left arm hung limply at his side. Miroku bit his cheek, as he watched the man shove the sword back in in sheath awkwardly, without the use of his left hand to steady the scabbard. He suggested that the white-haired man at least keep it in a sling until he healed.

"Kagome'll know if I came back in a sling." Kagome had been making a fuss lately about this demon slaying business since the last time she and he went out. She didn't realize he'd been putting himself in so much danger every time, and Inuyasha had tried to reason with her that he had always been fine, and he would always be fine. They would need the money, he told her. He had no trade skills, and other than gifts for her duties in the form of vegetables, she didn't earn anything, either. They were still borrowing a few items, and that was what this trip was for. He had told her before she had time to argue or was coherent enough to remember his necklace, that he was leaving that dawn, and that he would return to her by dusk, uninjured…he could hide a dislocated shoulder from her, he was sure…

"Yes, perhaps, but those bite marks are deep, they may take a few days to heal," Miroku conjectured.

"My sleeves hide the worst of them."

"Oh, but when you remove your clothes for the night, she will surely see them."

Inuyasha huffed through his nose and shot his friend a flustered glare.

"Filthy-minded freak. We don't do that every night."

Inuyasha had been really good with Shippo in the past few days. Kagome woke up to a quiet conversation yesterday morning , Inuyasha having come back in from fetching water, and Shippo still sitting up on the folded sleeping bag that he used for his bed. She had pretended to be asleep for another minute, just listening to the quiet small talk the hanyou and young demon engaged in. Apparently, the taller mountain next to the kitsune training grounds had already gotten a fresh dusting of snow. Shippo was excited because he had one more trip to make before he stayed in Kaede's village for the winter. A guest was supposed to be coming as well to teach the younger demons. A white fox with six tails. Shippo thought it was funny that the white fox would be coming just as soon as the snow had.

It was Kagome's chuckle that gave her away as the boys turned their heads in her direction to give their morning greeting.

Kagome sighed. How lovely was that? Inuyasha really had done some growing up, hadn't he? He was treating Shippo like an actual person, a demon who could hold a conversation as well as any adult, and not just some pest of a little kid.

Kagome's thoughts snapped forward when she saw Rin veering off the path.

"Rin? Where are you going?"

"Oh, sorry. I saw a patch of lilies and got distracted," Rin blushed and got back on the path. Kagome smiled with a hum. Rin was allowed to leave the village only to accompany Kagome to the next. Normally Rin spent her days with Hana, a woman who had raised and married off five daughters to neighboring villages. Today, Kaede had told the woman that Inuyasha might fuss if he discovered Kagome made the trip alone. He and Miroku had left promptly that morning, and Kaede's back was in no shape to make the trip.

Kagome was happy to hear the girl humming a tune as they went along. When they first started out that morning, Rin seemed melancholy. Kagome didn't ask at first, thinking it rude, but as the minutes ticked by, she realized how strange it was for the girl to not strike up a conversation.

"Is there something wrong, Rin?"

Rin shook her head stiffly. Three seconds later the tiny girl let out an exasperated sigh and turned pleading eyes to Kagome.

"You don't think Rin—I—talk too much, do you?"

Kagome blinked at that. Of course not. She valued the conversations she had with the little girl. Rin was usually upbeat, and very was actually very skilled at chatting people up. She could usually read people well, a concealed lie was not well concealed to her. She didn't think the girl could tell a decent lie herself, with how quickly her thoughts migrated to her mouth. She had never been afraid to speak her mind, and Kagome really appreciated that about Rin.

"Well, tell that to Hana. She says I talk too much, and that boys will never want to marry someone like that." Rin held her head up and stepped forward more quickly.

"Well that doesn't sound right…" Kagome wasn't sure how to respond to that. She had heard the gossip of enough women to know that wasn't entirely true. She knew that a wife in these times was—although it didn't mean she had to like it—supposed to be subservient, submissive, sub—well, everything.

Why did the image of Inuyasha hissing and groaning under her come to mind?

She shook away that particular thought when Rin continued on.

"Well you know what I think? I don't really want to get married anyway, so why should I care what boys think?"

Kagome paused as both of Rin's hands slapped over her mouth, eyes wide.

"I didn't mean to say—ah! Kagome don't think poorly of me please!" What? Kagome was surprised by the shock on the girl's face. What had she said to think Kagome might see her in a poor light?

"Huh? Why would I ever think that? Rin?"

Rin bit her lip and laced her fingers together.

"That…that I don't want to get married…ever…" She looked up into Kagome's eyes for some sort of disapproval, unsure if she would find any. She hoped she wouldn't.

"I know I'm supposed to want to get married to a boy from one of these villages, one of these days, but…I just don't want to. I mean, maybe I will when I'm a lot older, but right now it just seems weird to think about it. All of the other girls seem excited when they talked about marrying the guys but I just don't…I don't want to marry a boy from around here. The boys my age are weird, you know?"

Kagome let out a soft sigh, and gave Rin a reassuring smile. Rin's eyes sparkled when she saw the deep understanding from the older woman. Kagome was such an amazing person, and as much as she loved to talk with everyone, she had grown fondest of Kagome—next to Sesshomaru, of course, but he wasn't a very good conversationalist.

"Oh, I understand that. Trust me though, the boys will be more…tolerable…when they're older." She paused with Rin's sudden frown. Was there something Kagome wasn't understanding? Countering her last statement, she continued with, "and even if you never want to marry, there's really nothing wrong with that. You have a place here, helping Kaede and I around, so there's no real need for you to ever marry."

Rin seemed to consider the statement. Kagome waited for the girl to say something to accept or reject her words, but then the girl smiled.

"I'm sure I can make a place for myself, even without marrying some village boy…Thank you, Kagome." She walked another few steps, before she turned back. "And if, maybe, I find a…a guy…I really like, and I have to leave the village, you won't think anything bad about me leaving you and Kaede to your duties alone?"

Kagome chuckled. She was certain her and the older Miko could handle things without any trouble if Rin were to leave and marry. She reassured the girl of this, earning a grin on the preteen's face.

The village head's wife was pregnant again, and Kaede knew from experience how poorly her body handled morning sickness. Kagome was checking up on her, giving her a little dose of something to help if she needed it. The young Miko and younger girl would be back by the early afternoon.

At least that's what Kagome hoped. Inuyasha had told her he would be back by dusk, and he knew nothing about the trip she was making. Rin was there, a short sword from Sesshomaru hidden under the preteen's clothes, but Kagome knew Inuyasha would find that unacceptable. As if she needed protection. This was one of several villages that lay within the bounds of Inuyasha's forest, so even if she felt confident in her bow, she knew there was nothing within that might harm her. Not that Inuyasha would accept that reasoning either.

Kagome smelled smoke from cook fires once again as they came closer to the village. A woman chopping firewood caught sight of the pair first, throwing a confused look their way. She recognized the younger girl—although she seemed to be in a different kimono every time she saw her—but the young woman? She mouthed an 'oh' as she realized who Kagome must be.

"Why hello Rin, Miko-sama," she greeted. "You must be Kaede-sama's apprentice."

Kagome nodded in reply.

"You're aware of Ranko's pregnancy I take it? Good timing. I haven't seen her leave the house in two days, I suspect the child's made her ill again."

"Oh, that's what I was afraid of," Kagome said as she touched her fingertips to her lips. Rin tapped Kagome's shoulder for her to follow the girl.

"I'm sure she'll be alright. This is her seventh child." The woman gave her name, and asked Kagome's, since she was certain she'd be seeing more of her.

When Kagome was allowed into the room, she was surprised to see a woman the barely older herself smiling weakly at her. She couldn't be more than twenty-one, and was probably younger under the tired circles that rounded out her eyes. Rin sat before her, asking her how she was feeling, as Kagome stared on dumbly. She looked over at Rin next to the woman, talking with her softly, as an experienced nurse might. She shook off her hesitance and came to join Rin beside the woman, asking her how long she had been feeling ill, what her symptoms were, and so forth.

"I thought that by the third child I might get over it, but here it is, my seventh child, and I still get like this," she said with a laugh. Kagome hesitated again. Seventh? That's right, this woman had six other children and…and she was only Kagome's age. The young Miko felt very cold, all of a sudden. For this woman to have seven children she had to…her eyes were drawn to Rin, who stood to bring the woman, Ranko, something to drink.

Her math just wasn't working out. For this young woman to be on her seventh child she must have…she must have started having babies at around Rin's age!

"Um," Kagome voiced cautiously, "I'm afraid I might be prying, but are all your children healthy?"

The woman chuckled.

"Oh don't worry Miko-sama. Yes, all my children are quite healthy, despite how I get while I'm carrying them."

"Oh, that's wonderful news," Kagome said with a smile. She thought of how to work around her curiosity without seeming blunt. She didn't want to go out and ask how young she was when she had her first but—how young did women get married in these times? Surely Rin was too young for that! She was barely old enough to get her per—she was just way too young!

"Have you any twins?"

Ranko confirmed that she had one pair of twin boys from her forth pregnancy. Kagome swallowed. Okay, so that might put her at fourteen or fifteen when she had a child—best case scenario. Fourteen? When was that a good age to have a child?! She was older than that when she met Inuyasha. She shook that away from her thoughts and actually went to treating the woman. While she was sure she had been over this instruction many times before she stressed the importance of getting enough fluids, for both woman and baby.

"Oh thank you," said the man who accepted a dose of herbs for Ranko, "my wife is usually very healthy, but carrying a child has always been hard on her." Kagome blinked at the man as he went on with his thanks.

She started walking down the path with Rin and this entire situation gave her a sense of alienation. This was so weird, how things worked in this era. When she had first seen the man, she had assumed he was Ranko's father or father-in-law. When she got a good look at him, he was younger than she thought, but he was at least fifteen years her senior! That wasn't right.

That would be little more the apparent age gap between Sesshomaru and Rin the very first time Kagome had seen the child. If the woman had started having children at fourteen, then the age gap was less than that between her and her eldest child. Sure, extreme age gaps weren't unheard of even in her time period, but…

Boys my age are weird, you know?

Rin was strangely quiet again. Kagome's attention was snapped away from her thoughts when the girl once again wondered off the path. She was nearly twelve, but she was still a little girl at heart—and much too young to marry!

"Rin?" She called when the girl darted out of sight. To her surprise, the girl came bounding back to her happily, gripping a handful of lovely yellow flowers.

"Do you have any water?" She asked as she pulled a rag from her kimono and wrapped it around the stems of the flowers. Kagome shot her a curious look, but handed the girl her water nonetheless. She watched as she carefully wet the cloth. She smiled as she held the flowers up for inspection.

"Those are lovely, Rin. Do you know their name?"

The girl blushed at the question, shaking her head.

"But they are pretty, aren't they? I love the color. The exact same color as Lord Sessh—" she cut off. She stared blankly at the flowers for another second before she turned her gaze up to the Miko whose eyebrow raised a fraction higher. Kagome eyed the flowers and shook her head.

"Inuyasha too. His eyes are the same color as these flowers," Kagome added.

Rin smiled softly.

"Yes, the same as Inuyasha and Lord Sesshomaru's…" her smile fell slightly… "Do…do you think…" she trailed off as her smile disappeared completely. The girl was so fond of Kagome's brother-in-law. She always had been.

"It's been a long time since his last visit, hasn't it?" Rin nodded forlornly. She gasped with the small pressure against her shoulder. Kagome's hand was warm, and she leaned back against the woman's arm. She sighed. Kagome petted down the girl's hair.

"I know it's been a while, but he's probably very busy, you know?" Rin nodded stiffly, so Kagome continued on. "Ah, well…I'm sure he'll visit very soon, and when he does, he'd be surprised to see how tall you're getting."

Rin scoffed.

"I'm not any taller, and you know it." Well…Rin had always been a little smaller than the other girls her age…Rin pushed away from Kagome, giving the older woman a suspicious look. Kagome raised her eyebrows, and watched with amusement as the girl scrunched her face to try to fight the smile Kagome's expression had induced. Finally the girl's face cracked into a smile with a laugh. Kagome laughed as well, and they continued on their way.

When Kagome saw Rin dart off the road again, she didn't even have to ask what for, as the girl swiftly returned with red lilies, and some other white flowers to add to her bunch.

"Look!" Rin beamed as she bundled the wet cloth around the larger bunch of flowers. "A bouquet that looks like Lord Sesshomaru."

Kagome burst out laughing when she examined the bunch again. Red, white and gold, the colors suited the little girl's favorite person very well. While Rin giggled, Kagome caught the edge of two demonic auras approaching. Not long after, a fluffball came bounding into view, followed by a flash of red and white…and yellow, if you wanted to consider the eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving the village?"

Kagome sighed, it couldn't be helped.

"I let you leave this morning. So we're even."

Shippo had tried to stop Inuyasha from following Kagome's scent out into the woods, grumbling to himself, but there wasn't a lot the kit could do. He had been busy all day fixing some of his props, and he had only caught Inuyasha's scent at the last second. He expected Kagome and Inuyasha to start arguing, but to his—and Kagome's—surprise, Inuyasha merely growled and dropped the issue. Kagome sighed with relief and continued on her way with Inuyasha walking beside her. Not getting angry about something like this was another accomplishment for Inuyasha in her book. She didn't see him rubbing his side and cringing.

Kagome smiled and looked behind her when she noticed Rin was not following, having stooped to add a blackish twig to her flower arrangement. Almost the same color as Sesshomaru's armor…She was so fond of the demon. With the way she blushed, rearranging the flowers, Kagome had to wonder…Well, they appeared slightly closer in age now...

"Hey, Inuyasha, do you think..." her whisper trailed off. Inuyasha hummed for her to continue her question, but she waved him off. She tapped her fingers to her lips. She supposed it was possible, she had her first crush when she was about Rin's age...Then again, the little girl had always seemed this devoted to the demonic man, always talking him up as her hero, as even Souta had of Inuyasha. Shippo looked at Kagome curiously, before turning back to look for Rin.

"Hey! You're gonna get left behind," the fox called to the little human girl. The girl popped up at that and jogged up to the trio as they all walked towards the village.

"No! Dammit Kagome, I said I was fine!"

Kagome had noticed the edge of a healing wound showing from under his sleeve when he laid the bedding out for the night. That had started her whining about getting injured, and needing to see the extent of his wounds.

She yanked his sleeve back to examine a few more healing punctures in his left arm.

"I got bit, it happens, it's not gonna kill me," he argued.

"Maybe if it doesn't get infected. I need you to undress so I can get a better look."

"For fuck's sake Kagome."

"Now." She looked directly at the beads as she spoke, and he begrudgingly tugged on the ties at his chest. Kagome realized his left arm must actually be hurting, since he wasn't using that hand to remove his top at all. Before she could think to help him with his top, the layers came off, and he plopped down in front of her.

Sighing, she pushed his hair from his left shoulder. She carefully picked up his arm, examining the wounds that ran across it. Most had crusted over with scabs, and there were a few marks that showed new pink skin already coming in to replace the damaged skin. There was little bruising too, up by his shoulder. Luckily, there didn't seem to be any open wounds at this time. She sat at his side to run her fingers over his shoulder, noting the wince. She was familiar with damage at this left arm. Early on in their friendship, Inuyasha had slammed up against a bounder to pop it back in, and once after that, she had seen Sango help fix his arm.

"Did your shoulder get dislocated again?"

A grunt answered her question. She ran her hand over his back, and here he flinched, too, when she pressed her fingers into his vertebrae.

"Did you hurt your back, too?"

"Just a little stiff," he muttered. She nodded. She told him that she wouldn't need to treat the wounds, but she then surprised him by asking him to lay on his belly.

"Well your back hurts, right?"

"What're you gonna do to it?"

"Just trust me." Her smile was supposed to look serene, but it only made her husband suspicious. Suspicion aside, he did as he was told. What surprised him next was Kagome sitting on top of his legs and placing her hands on his spine.

Was she seriously going to give him a massage? Inuyasha's face flushed with the thought. He was so embarrassed, but thrilled at the same time, that she was going to do something he'd always heard about, but had never put any real thought into. It was so embarrassing.

He was confused when she told him to exhale. On his next exhale she—hey! This wasn't a massage at all! He heard three pops, and he made an involuntary squeak when she lifted the pressure. He was about to ask what she was doing when she moved her hands lower and pressed down with another of his exhales. Two more pops and he...

'Huh…that actually felt kinda good,' he thought. She moved lower on his spine every time and Inuyasha almost sighed when she finished with the small of his back. It wasn't a massage, but damn, that felt good.

"You really were stiff," she said, "you feeling any better?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I'm no chiropractor, but I was hoping that would work." She was about to get off his legs when she heard another quiet comment.

"Yeah, definitely not a massage, but good."

"Oh," she said, leaning off to the side so she could see her husband's face, "do you want a massage?" Kagome guessed, from the sudden change of expression and embarrassed turning of his head that he probably did. She touched just her fingertips to the back of his neck. She warned that it probably wouldn't be very good, but Inuyasha said nothing and tried to hide his face in his hair.

She started just below his shoulder blades and pushed her thumbs up gradually. When she got to the back of his neck, he turned his head and Kagome saw that he was gazing idly off to the side with half-closed eyes. He looked like a cat getting the base of their tail scratched. She smiled. It was so quiet, and her mind began to wander to today's events with the pregnant woman, and Rin's behavior. She said she wanted to stay single, but Kagome had the sneaking suspicion that she just didn't want to be forced into a match, and also—

"Why'd you stop?"

"I was thinking, sorry," she said, trying to remember where she had last had her hands.

"Bah."

...

I imagine Rin and Kagome would become close with Kaede looking after her. I want to have Kagome become sort of a big sister to Rin, and help her through the ups-and-downs of growing up, heartbreak and whatnot.