That First Year

The warmth of the late spring was a pleasant feeling on Kagome's skin after nearly a week straight of rain. Today was going to be a good day, she could tell. Inuyasha surprised her that morning with a question after waking her up by shaking her arm. The question was something she had hinted at a few weeks ago, stating that it was about the same time she came back to live in this world. It seemed as if it had finally clicked.

"We been married about a year now, ain't we?"

Her birthday had passed, and the weather was starting to get warmer and she thought, yes, it was about their first anniversary. She didn't suspect that couples did anything for anniversaries in this era, other than acknowledgment that a certain amount of time had passed. She wasn't entirely sure, but when they got up for the day, Kagome made it clear that Inuyasha was to be home early tomorrow to help her prepare a special dinner. She didn't have all the ingredients right away for what she was planning, so it would be special for tomorrow night instead of right then. Sure this era had some sort of calendar system, but she still wasn't sure when exact dates would correlate, like birthdays and anniversaries. Inuyasha had become accustomed to celebratory meals at that point, and agreed, although he wasn't sure what use he was in the kitchen.

Having decided that, Kagome and Shippo left for the village and Inuyasha for the forest. Kagome was doing a little work at the shrine when a woman, Tsuyu came and asked for a favor. She followed the woman to her home where she found her daughter-in-law, Ai, along with the newborn granddaughter. Kagome had helped deliver this baby just two weeks prior and Tsuyu had some concerns for the baby's health. Tsuyu was worried the baby might have an illness or allergy, because her face was speckled with red marks. Kagome held the half-awake baby while she examined her little chubby face. It didn't appear to be an allergy so she told the grandmother and mother it was likely just baby acne. They gave her a strange look, since most children don't have this problem until puberty. Kagome reflected on her friend, Eri, who had also been born with acne, saying that it should go away before they reached a year in age.

Tsuyu laughed. She wondered if the child had inherited acne from her, since she had it bad when she was a teenager. Kagome and Ai said they had both been lucky to escape that, Tsuyu joking with them for rubbing it in. As Kagome got up to leave, Tsuyu noticed something laying beside where Kagome had been sitting.

"Oh, wait wait. You dropped something, it's…" she paused, picking the small wooden item from the floor.

"Oh, this is such a pretty comb! Where did you get it?" Tsuyu said, examining the detailed little carvings along the top of it.

"My, uh, my husband," Kagome chuckled, "he made it for me, actually." She bit the inside of her cheek, remembering how her husband had casually presented the comb to her for her birthday. She took a bit of pride in just how nicely the geometric shapes flowed into one another, and the fact that it was her own husband who had made this with her in mind.

"Really? Wow," the older woman raised her eyebrows as she handed the comb back to the young Miko.

"He's very good at carving. Does he carve anything else?"

Kagome tilted her head to the side.

"Uh, yeah, he's…he's usually into carving neat little bowls." Kagome frowned a little at that. While she did encourage her husband's newfound hobby, she now had over a dozen carved bowls in various stages of completion cluttering up her shelves. She didn't particularly like clutter, and she had noticed more and more wood shavings about the house as day progressed. She didn't say anything, because there were very few…productive things Inuyasha did for fun, so she would let him have this one hobby.

"Really? Huh…" Tsuyu stood straight and tilted her head as the Miko tucked the comb into a more secure location, where she was certain it wouldn't fall out again.

"Does he sell them at the market? If the bowls are carved as well as that comb, they would probably sell pretty well."

Kagome rubbed the back of her neck. She would certainly like for the bowls to go elsewhere besides cluttering her already too-small storage space, but…

"Uh…I don't even know where the nearest market—"

"Oh, well it's not far from here. Mother and I go there every month to sell my cloth and her scented oils," the daughter-in-law chimed in.

"Ai here makes these beautiful patterns of cloth, and makes dyes just from whatever she finds around. I don't know how she does it. It's a shame we don't have any prepared to show, Kagome-sama."

Ai blushed before piping up that Tsuyu should give Kagome a sample of one of the oils, which the woman already had ribbons of cloth with the oils rubbed in as sample sized portions. This, Kagome immediately recognized as a marketing ploy not unlike the ladies at perfume counters at the mall. She tried to decline as she would a perfume lady—herself and her mother had always been vulnerable to taking samples, despite knowing full-well they were the type of people salespeople loved, because they always came back for the regular product. Tsuyu insisted that Kagome see if she liked the smell, but Kagome really tried to dissuade the older woman.

"Oh no, I really shouldn't. You know, Inuyasha is very particular about scents," Kagome laughed.

"Oh come now, he'd really like this, even if he has a dog's nose," the older woman said, laughing lightly.

"It's just a sample, if he hates it, you don't have to talk to me again, but if he approves, you can always come back to get a regular jar of it."

The young Miko then resisted the unprofessional urge to roll her eyes and then politely took the ribbon from the woman before making her way out. Now, no matter what, her hands were going to smell of the scented oil. Although, she noticed that it really was a nice scent. She worked with herbs most of the day, so her hands always had plenty of plant scents on them, which Inuyasha rarely complained about. Usually woody or spice-like scents, which Kagome herself found unpleasant at times and attempted to wash away during the day. This scent, however, was quite lovely, and she had been meaning to bathe that day anyways, so she supposed it wouldn't hurt…

Kagome went around town a bit, seeing what she could barter off her neighbors. She was a little short on flour, and eggs for the meal she had planned the following day. Shippo had crawled out of the woods covered in dirt when he came to greet Kagome. Kagome laughed at the little fox's appearance, telling him he'd have to wash up before she would let him back in the house. With a smile, Shippo told her it wasn't necessary. He had finally finished that burrow he had been wanting for a while, he told her. He would show it to her when she went home that night, maybe sixty meters from the house, enough to where he felt like the space was his own, but close enough that he could come in for meals. It was through the roots of a sturdy tree, so he said he wasn't sure if she'd be able to actually see the inside, but he would show her the location of it nonetheless. Kagome didn't tell him she would rather not actually try to go in the hole, for fear of getting too dirty or getting stuck, but she laughed and nodded appreciatively to the little kitsune.

Shippo stayed with Kagome as she brought a group of children out to the field to babysit. Miroku had been watching them until noon, and passed them off to Kagome when it was time to put his own children down for a nap. Miroku had begun teaching the kids spelling and grammar again now that it was warm enough, taking the girls and the baby to start early on their own education. The girls, at least. Kagome noticed that Ichiro was walking pretty well now, toddling on his own to his daddy when Miroku told the baby and his sisters it was time to go home. Kagome found it remarkable that baby Ichiro was over a year old now, walking and starting to talk. He knew a few words, with his favorite being an enthusiastic 'no!' but he wasn't quite stringing together sentences yet. He had grown so much in the time she had spent here, and she supposed watching this little one grow really did make it seem like she had been here a while. It didn't quite feel like a year, but she had, in fact, been here, for that long.

Shippo was showing the children some magic tricks when Kagome heard a few mothers calling the children back home. Kagome saw the children home and headed back into the forest with Shippo. As they finished up dinner that night, Shippo shuffled out the door to his own little burrow.

"Sleep well!" Kagome told the fox, before turning to her husband.

"He's staying out in his own little foxhole," she told Inuyasha.

Inuyasha chuckled from his position laying on the floor.

"Yeah I know. I helped him get it done."

Kagome tilted her head to the side.

"Eh? There's no way you could fit in there," she started.

"Nah," Inuyasha said, rolling onto his side and resting his head on his hand.

"I just helped him get it furnished. He's got a pretty sweet deal in there, lined with rabbit pelts and all. Even gave him a little cup in case he gets thirsty and doesn't wanna get out of bed."

"Ah, Inuyasha," Kagome smiled, "that's so sweet of you."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well. I told him in exchange ta keep outta our hair now and then, y'know."

Kagome shook her head before taking a last bite of food before standing to wash her bowl.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, what was you plannin' to cook tomorrow?" Inuyasha asked, lifting his head from his hand.

"Noodles. You remember ramen, right?"

"Eh? I didn't realize you knew how to make that. Are you good at it?" Inuyasha blinked.

"Well, we'll be making it together and…I've only tried it once before, in 8th grade home economics. So…well, we'll see."

"Hmm…" Inuyasha considered the statement for a moment. He had always liked the flavor of the instant noodles, but he never really considered that someone could make the dish. Although having him assist in making it would probably ruin the whole meal.

Eh, well, whatever. Inuyasha watched his wife dry her bowl before pausing to look at the shelf where he'd been keeping the bowls he made.

"Is this one new?"

"Which one?" Inuyasha squinted, sitting back up.

Kagome set the cleaned bowl on back with the regular dishes before grabbing one of the carved bowls and examining it. Inuyasha stood and walked over to see which one she meant. She held the bowl up to him as he came near.

"Nah. I just got a couple of them oiled today, so they're shiny now." He took the bowl from his wife and set it back on the shelf pausing suddenly. He held Kagome's shoulder as he pushed her hair aside with his nose, giving her a skin a sniff before releasing her shoulder with a grunt.

Kagome gave him a confused look for a second before remembering the incident with Tsuyu earlier in the day. Kagome's hand covered the back of her neck.

"Oh, sorry, I guess I didn't get it all washed off," Kagome mumbled, "is it bad?"

Inuyasha pulled out the bedding and started to lay it out before shrugging slightly.

"It's not bad. Kinda sweet-smelling."

"Eh? Do you like it?" Kagome asked then, clasping her hands together. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, smoothing out the bedding.

"Why're ya so excited?" Inuyasha stood back up, hands on his hips.

"Well, I mean, you don't hate the scent right? I was worried you might."

"Uh…I uh…Why were you worried about that?"

"Well I was…" Kagome laced her fingers together, "it's not my goal in life to irritate your nose, you know," she joked. Inuyasha shook his head.

"It's fine, if you like the smell, then."

"Ah, wait, what are you doing?" Kagome put down her spoon and stood over her husband, tangled in a mess of, lumpy, goopy, sticky…'noodles'…

"I'm doing. Exactly. What you told me." Inuyasha said through grit teeth.

"No no. You've got to…oh hold still, I'll help you."

As Kagome helped her husband out of the noodles, and showed him again how to make the noodles, there came a knock on the doorframe.

"Come in!" Kagome called.

Beneath the screen came the face of the woman Kagome had visited with just yesterday, Tsuyu. Tagging along beside her was a boy whom Kagome presumed to be her younger son, at about sixteen.

"Hi, Kagome-sama I just thought about it now but…um…am I interrupting something? Dinner?"

"Oh no. I mean yes, we're making dinner but you can come in."

"I see…what are you making there?"

"Oh, its…" Kagome thought for a second as to whether or not a similar dish had been made yet. She wasn't a food historian, how was she supposed to know?

"It's a dish from my homeland. Inuyasha liked it, so I decided to make it for today."

"Not worth the—" Inuyasha started to grumble.

"Special occasion?"

Kagome smiled, glancing up from mess of noodles.

"Inuyasha and I have been married a whole year now."

Tsuyu laughed, congratulating the pair on surviving the first year. She commented on the number of times herself and her husband tried to break up during their first year. Those early years were some of the hardest, she explained. Inuyasha made a sour face, letting Kagome know the commentary was unwelcome to his ears. Kagome wanted to make a face back, to tell him he was being rude, but she instead changed the subject back to why Tsuyu had come all the way into the forest.

"Oh, that's right. Yes. I remember you saying you didn't even know where the market was, so I figured I would invite you out there if you've never been."

"Oh, I appreciate the offer, but—"

"Oh, these are the bowls you make, Inuyasha?" Tsuyu asked suddenly, pointing to the shelves of bowls. Inuyasha grunted.

"May I see one?"

"Knock yourself out," Inuyasha said as he began pulling the noodles again. The woman pulled one down to look it over.

"Oh this is lovely. Inuyasha, have you ever considered selling some of these?" Tsuyu asked.

"Eh? Oh, if you want that bowl you're holding," he said, glancing over, "you can just have it." That particular pattern he had attempted to copy a number of times. He had about five of them now. He, Kagome, and Shippo already had the three bowls they ate out of regularly, and more than enough bowls for when Miroku, Sango and the kids came over for dinner.

"Oh no, I mean at the market, where my daughter-in-law and I got to sell our wares. Have you ever considered selling them? You travel around a lot, so you must pass through a few markets here and there."

"No one would buy them," Inuyasha said bluntly.

"Why not? They're lovely. I think they would sell really well."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"No one would buy them from me, anyways."

Kagome's smiled dropped away from that statement. Inuyasha's ears flicked back and forth, Inuyasha trying not to look annoyed by allowing his ears to flatten.

"Why do you say…oh…" Tsuyu put on a thoughtful expression for a moment.

"Well…the reason I came by was to invite Kagome-sama to come to the market with me tomorrow. If you're okay with it, she could bring those along, and I could use my saleswoman expertise to get them sold."

"What makes you think they would sell?" Inuyasha said, almost defensively, as he cut the noodles.

"Eh? Well, if they don't, they won't, but since you were okay with just giving me the one, why don't you try to sell a couple? Make a little extra money that way? You already have some finished ones, if you're okay to sell any of them."

Inuyasha stopped to consider the proposition for a second before looking to Kagome, who stood with an expression more of confusion than anything else at the moment.

"Uh…If my wife wants, she can…"

The sound of the boy sighing behind the woman was relieving at that moment.

"That means I don't have to come, right?" the boy asked, expectantly.

"Yes, that would mean you don't have to come. I swear, you are the laziest child I have ever met, don't even want to keep your poor old mom company to the market," the woman said, the last part mumbled to the boy.

Kagome looked down to her husband, then back up to the woman.

"I…I suppose I can spend a few hours there tomorrow…"

When the woman left and after Kagome, Inuyasha, and even little Shippo sat down to the anniversary dinner, Inuyasha began to look over the bowls he had completed already. He took down a ten and set them aside for Kagome to take in the morning. Shippo ducked out right after dinner, to spend a second night in his newly made burrow to leave the couple to their chat.

"I don't think anyone's gonna buy 'em."

Kagome sighed, crawling up next to her husband, lacing the fingers of her right hand with his left.

"And even if they don't, what of it? I was probably going to check out the market anyway, so trying to sell something seems a little more worth it…unless you're afraid of parting with the wooden things you put so much effort into?"

Inuyasha scoffed.

"That ain't it…hey. That lady the one who gave you the scented oil?"

"The sample of it, yeah."

"Ah. She's decent. A little chatty."

"A little," Kagome laughed. Inuyasha squeezed his lovely wife's hand then, leaning his head against hers.

"Belly full?" Inuyasha asked.

"Mn-hm," Kagome replied. She felt warm and comfortable a little sleepy. She felt Inuyasha's arm around her then as he shifted her form into his lap.

"So. A year huh. What's changed in a year?"

Kagome thought on the question for a few seconds before Inuyasha answered for her.

"Not a whole helluva lot, eh?"

Kagome laughed.

"You make that sound like a bad thing…and I'd think I know a little bit better by now, for starters."

"You know me better? What exactly do you know about me that you didn't a year ago?"

"I um…well, I know there's a spot on your back that turns you into a puddle of goo when I put pressure on it."

"Kagome!..geez…" Inuyasha rested his forehead against her neck to hide his face.

"So…" Inuyasha said, looking over the coins and items Kagome had brought back with her.

"Some folks actually bought them," Inuyasha muttered skeptically.

"All of them, Inuyasha. The people at the market seemed really impressed! I told you you were good at this!"

"And…paid pretty well," the hanyou noted.

"This'll just encourage me to make more, y'know." Inuyasha threw a knowing glance to his wife.

"Wha…I never said I didn't like you maki—"

"I could tell, idiot. The more space on your shelves they took up, the less thrilled you were with each new one I made."

"Inuyasha, look. I'm sorr—"

Inuyasha chuckled, pushing his hand into her hair then. He leaned forward to kiss his wife, startling her a bit.

"Hey!" Kagome frowned, only to return the kiss.

"What was that for?" Kagome asked when she pulled back.

"Tried to make you shut up. Didn't work," Inuyasha gave with a smirk.

"Why would that ever work?" Kagome said with a laugh, ducking forward to kiss her husband yet again.

...

It's 6 am. I am just going to bed. I'll add a proper description and maybe edit this tomorrow.