Five: Feral Love
After a kidnapping gone wrong, Inuyasha is raised by wolves in the wild forests that bear his family's name. Years later, he is discovered by a young woman and cared for by her. Their time together is cut short but they are reunited in the place where they first met. Can they manage to put the lies and trauma of their past behind them and forge ahead?
In the first days after the fire, he was alone.
Inuyasha had never been alone before. Before, he'd had Mother always, and Father when he would come home from work. His big brother would stop by from boarding school every other weekend, and when he wasn't being mean he would teach him things.
If it weren't for Mother telling him to run he would still be there. Sometimes he thought she just wanted to get rid of him, but she had been scared and someone had hurt her. He could smell the blood, hers and Father's, even now. It had stained the inside of his nose, the inside of his head. Banished to the snow, he wanted to go back home, but Mother had said not to come back until she came for him. But it had been so long now. Where was she?
As the night of the new moon fell, the change overcame him, and then he was nothing more than a shivering human boy, defenseless from the elements. Inuyasha didn't know how to make a fire, and the idea of one scared him now. The cave he'd taken refuge in provided little to no shelter from the cold. All he had was his fire rat, the clothes his mother had thrust him into before sending him out. He remembered that they were a gift from Father just for him and that they would protect him, but why weren't they warmer? He was so cold. So, so cold.
For the first time since he was a baby, Inuyasha cried. Big sobs racked his body and he began to gasp for breath, not able to control himself. All he wanted was to go home, but he didn't even know where home was anymore. Mother and Father hadn't come for him and they never would. And he was so cold…
Eyes glowed in the dark and he went entirely still. Two, four, six, eight, more. All staring right at him. Inuyasha sniffled.
"H-hello?"
A growl answered him.
He stiffened. Wolves. He was alone in a dark cave with wolves. And he was human.
One of the wolves that he could not see with his weak human eyes came up to him. Inuyasha held absolutely still. He could hear the thing sniff him, felt its damp nose on his cheek. He tried not to move, tried not to cringe away in terror. Then he felt a wet tongue scrape against his cheek and he nearly screamed. Was it tasting him? More wolves came closer and soon there was no way he could move even if he wanted to. They sniffed and licked him, and one by one flopped down on the ground.
Inuyasha was warm.
He slept.
O\o/O
Hunting was easier for him than it was for the rest of the pack, fierce though they were. Because of that, they often held competitions: them versus him. It wasn't something he had enjoyed at first, since it was just another sign of what made him different like his pale hair and naked skin over which he wore the fur of another. But he had since learned to take pride in his talents and lord it over the rest of the pack, careful not to let it go too far since it was very important to keep the peace preserved so they would continue to function flawlessly as a unit. As his brothers howled their success, taunting him, Inuyasha growled to himself, pushing to a part of the forest he'd never been to before.
Game had been scarce this winter since a fire had destroyed part of their forest, and they were all suffering for it. Nose close to the frosty ground, he searched for something that would put to shame the kill of his brothers. Rabbits? Please. He was going for deer or boar. Something big.
Mother.
That was the first thing he thought when he saw her and he nearly cried out to her. But as he came closer, he realized it wasn't her.
It was a beautiful creature. Though he was long past the age where it was acceptable to mate, he had rejected all his pack sisters. He could see their beauty in the sharpness of their teeth and the thickness of their pelts, but he did not want them and he never would. His brothers would tease him for it, but it was all fine.
This one was like him. She lacked his strength and smelled of something different, the same kind of different his mother was, which was what had confused him at first. Still, she was hairless but for her head, where it hung long and dark and glossy down her back. When she turned to look at him, he saw that her eyes were bright and not the black of his brothers, but different, like him, though hers were a gray in contrast to his yellow. There were no others like her with her and she was shivering. She had been separated from her pack.
"Hello?" She squinted into the growing darkness where he crouched, transfixed at the sight of her and sound of her voice. "Is anyone there?"
The beautiful creature was in distress.
Something in her voice reminded him of how he had been that night he had met his second family, and Inuyasha cautiously stepped out of the foliage and shadows. She gasped when she saw him, eyes widening, and smelled of fear.
"Oh gods, are you all right?" She ran over to him, heedless of the claws and fangs that had the ability to maim her and worse. "You're barefoot in the snow. Are you hurt? Why are you on all fours?"
He sniffed her and she smelled so good he wasn't able to prevent his nose from traveling up and up and up until he was standing and his face was wedged in the crook of her neck. None of his pack sisters smelled anything close to this good.
"Woah, what the heck!?" The beautiful one shoved him away. "Are you on drugs?"
Inuyasha reared back and howled a message to the rest of the pack. There would be no game from him tonight. He had found a female for himself. They howled back their congratulations.
"Gods," she whispered, eyes wide. "Are you talking to them? And they're talking back?" Her gaze probed him and he returned the assessment, finding her fit to bear his pups. "Your hair is beautiful but it's tangled with leaves and twigs. You're acting like… Like you're an animal." She fumbled for something in her flimsy covering and brought out a black box. "Whatever this is, you're a better subject than some winter chiaroscuro crap."
The thing flashed in his eyes and he growled.
"Okay, I get it. No pictures. But I think I've got what I need." She looked at him thoughtfully. "I was going to ask you for help, but I think you need mine more than I need yours. My phone doesn't have a signal way out here. Do you know the way back to the campgrounds?"
All he could do was stare at her. Some of those words he could understand, but it had been a long time since he first discarded them in favor of learning the language of his pack to the best of his ability, though there were some sounds his vocal chords could never make. Now that he wanted to use words again, he found that his mouth didn't work the same way. How was he supposed to mate with her when they weren't even communicating?
"No? I think it's back this way… I kind of wandered around a lot so I'm not sure, and I'm afraid it's going to start snowing. I didn't even bring gloves."
He growled at her, trying to get her to follow him back to the cave. Now that he had a female like him, his pack brothers would stop teasing him. Turning, he began to lead her back home.
"No, wait!" she cried, sounding frightened again. "That's too far into the woods. We need to go this way."
She tugged on his sleeve and tried to force him to go her way. A bark didn't even faze her.
"Come with me! We need to get you checked out."
The female was stubborn. Was that good or bad? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that she was glaring at him with her arms crossed and her pouty lower lip calling his attention. So she didn't want to come back to his pack. Perhaps it would be good for them to start their own. A pack that would be just like the two of them. Where no one would be forced to compete in earnest just to prove that they could keep up.
Inuyasha followed her.
They walked for a long time until they came to the thinning edges of the forest, a place he had not been since he had first broken through the wall of trees all those years ago. Soon they were out in the open. He had forgotten what it was like to look up and see a sky clear of branches.
"This place cleared out fast," she murmured. "Still no signal. And it's about to storm." She glanced at him, a little wary. "I guess I can take you to a hospital or whatever. You might be kinda out there but I don't think you're dangerous."
He sniffed around her ankles. When were they going to get to the mating part?
"Could you try standing?" She brought something else out from her clothing and a loud beep made him flinch. "The car's right here. You can ride shotgun."
Inuyasha dimly remembered cars. It had been so long since he'd had to access his memories, since survival was more about instinct and learning pack law. And from what he could remember, her car was a piece of shit.
"Come on, get in." She snorted and sat down inside. "Why do I feel like Tarzan is judging my ride…"
His claws scrabbled at the handle for a bit before finally figuring it out. Crawling inside, he got himself situated.
"Not like that! Feet on the floor." She tugged on his pantlegs until he complied, forcing his muscles to move in the unfamiliar way. The machine started up after a couple tries and then they were on their way.
Watching the place he'd called home for most of his life get farther and farther away until all he could see of it were the treetops in the distance was a strange feeling. He couldn't quite call it fear, though the unknown was daunting. He had found a female. Soon they would have a pack of their own.
"My name is Kagome."
Her name. His heart beat hard in his chest. Inuyasha tried to tell her his, but his vocal chords produced the grunt and bark that was his pack name and not the one he'd repeat to himself at night to remind him of his mother's gift to him and that she would come for him. Now that he had found a female, he was a true adult and would have to find his mother himself.
"Those noises are so weird. You sound like an actual dog or something."
The rest of the ride passed in silence and the snow came down harder and harder. Soon, it was a full-blown storm. The elders of the pack had told them this would happen, which was why they had been out hunting as much as they could of late. Inuyasha felt guilty that he'd left the pack without a kill. His had always been the most sizeable. Hopefully they would survive without the loss of too many pups or elders.
"Damn it," she hissed, pulling the car over. "It's getting really bad out there. And out of nowhere, too!" She gave him a long, hard look before nodding. "Okay. We'll stay at my house for now. It'll give you a chance to warm up before you go home. I guess I should call the police and say I found you? I've got no idea. Come on, let's go."
The two of them ran outside through the face-whipping wind and snow. By the time she unlocked her door, their faces were both bright pink from the elements. His healed fast but hers persisted.
"I'm gonna make us some tea while I find out who exactly the appropriate authorities are. Sit down and watch some TV." She turned the television on and Inuyasha stared at it, transfixed. Suddenly, he was flooded with memories of Saturday morning cartoons and fighting with his brother for the remote and his mother telling him not to sit so close. As though she were there saying those words to him and not just in his head, he scooted back.
"We return to our special holiday miniseries documenting the disappearance of Inuyasha Taisho."
He barked. The man on the TV was saying his name, his name of words!
"Yes, I know you're very busy because of the storm," Kagome said on the phone, sounding frustrated. "But I found a man wandering in Taisho Forest and I think he might have sustained some head trauma or something because he's acting very strange."
"Thirteen years ago today, the youngest son of the famous Taisho family went missing. Born to Izayoi and Toga Taisho, whose whirlwind romance captivated nations, young Inuyasha lacked for nothing. As the couple had received numerous threats from both demon and human-supremacist groups since the beginning of their courtship, they exercised the utmost caution with their young son and had him privately tutored by the world's brightest."
"Yes, that's what I said. What do you mean why? I brought him to my home because it's a nightmare out there! I wasn't going to let him suffer. Asking for it!?"
He kept one ear cocked in Kagome's direction since she sounded agitated and he might have to involve himself, but since she was strong, he was able to keep watching.
"—And it seemed like the Taishos had a perfect life. Unknown to outsiders, however, was that the threats had been escalating ever since the birth of Inuyasha. Several attempts had been made on their lives. To keep his family safe, Toga moved them to their high-security cabin hidden in Taisho Forest. And then, just before Valentine's Day, the couple's anniversary—"
"No, you're crazy!" Kagome screeched. Inuyasha focused all his attention on her. "Can you please just listen to me? Yes. A man with silver hair dressed all in red—stop it with the Santa jokes, asshole, it's February—and he can talk to wolves. Hello? Hello? Gods damn it!"
Inuyasha went over to where she was and licked her hand to soothe her.
"Ew!" she squealed. What are you—hold on." Kagome was fixated on the TV.
"This age-progressed sketch shows what Inuyasha Taisho would look like in the present day, if he did indeed somehow manage to survive." On one side of the screen was shown a picture of him when he had been a child, his mother and father smiling and hugging him. On the other was a black and white drawing that looked exactly like him. "Sesshomaru Taisho has repeatedly stated that on the night this tragedy occurred, his brother was wearing the robe of the fire rat, a long extinct creature, that his father had made for him. As it is indestructible with a very distinct style, it may be our greatest clue in solving this mystery."
"Inuyasha," she breathed, and he barked happily that she had said his word name. "You're Inuyasha Taisho." The two of them locked eyes and she laughed. "That's why you're so weird! You've been living in the woods all this time! Oh gods, this is amazing."
She was happy. That was good.
"Come on, let's get back in the car. I don't care how bad it is out there, we're going to Taisho Corp." Her smile made his stomach clench in a way he'd never felt before. "My friend Rin is an intern there and basically stalks Sesshomaru. We can get her to tell us where he is right now and we'll show up and you'll be reunited and I'll have the best picture in class!"
She went back outside in the bluster and he followed, worried. She'd said his brother's name. Was she taking him to where he was? Sesshomaru would be angry that he had been gone for so long and he wouldn't understand that it wasn't his fault. He never did. Reluctant though he was, he followed Kagome back out to the car.
"It's not so bad," she said, not sounding at all confident. "The Taisho building is just five minutes into town. We can make it."
The wind was picking up and the car rocked a little too hard when they got inside. Inuyasha wasn't sure exactly why she was so eager. The more he was around her, the more he remembered about what it was like to live in the world of people, so of course he wanted to stay with her for more than just that she was his chosen female. But he was worried as well.
The car was going a little too fast and he whined at her to slow down.
"Sorry, I know, I'm just so excited." She glanced at him and smiled, which made the feeling in his stomach go from dread to something else. "It's just this is a huge case. You're like the modern Lindbergh baby. And it's so close to the anniversary of when—of when what happened happened. This just feels so right, so—"
He grabbed the wheel and yanked it to the side. She screamed, but quickly quieted when the truck went speeding past right where they had just been.
"Oh, gods," she whispered shakily. "I just—I'm so sorry. I'll be careful, Inuyasha. Thank you. I promise you'll be back home safe in just a little bit."
The building was big and he dimly remembered it. This was where Father was always going. A few times, he'd allowed him to come along, but he'd ended up just playing video games in a room by himself and decided work was boring.
She was on her phone again. "Hey, Rin. Listen, I need to know where the big boss is right this instant. I'll tell you why later, but just know it's super huge. Like life or death crazy huge." She glanced at him. "Okay, good. Wait, on the way out!?" She turned and grabbed his wrist. "Ugh, come on."
Since she wanted him to walk on his hind legs, he did, even though it was strange to do for more than a few moments at a time. If this was what it took to be the kind of mate she needed, he would do it. Racing to the entrance of the building, she stopped when she nearly ran straight into a man.
Inuyasha recognized him by smell alone, since the demon that stood before him did not look like his brother. If anything, he looked almost exactly like his father, though the markings were different and the eyes were too cold and empty.
"You are in my way," he said simply. When the wind blew in his direction, he pushed Kagome out of the way entirely and grabbed him by the collar, nose working like he was just a dog and not a strong and powerful demon. "Is... Is this..."
"Um, hi, Mr. Taisho," Kagome said, recovering from having been shoved by a man twice her size. "You don't know me, I'm Rin's friend, do you even know her? But uh, I found your brother today. I was in the woods and he—"
Sesshomaru shoved her again, harder, and she fell. "Be quiet, human bitch. Let him speak."
Inuyasha growled at him. His brother was not his true brother if he would treat his chosen mate like that. His pack of the forest were more his family than this proud demon was. Shaking himself loose, he bit him on the arm until he drew blood. Kneeling down, he gathered the stunned Kagome in his arms and helped her to stand again. Her knees were weak and she wobbled a little, just like he had when he had first tried standing again.
"He can't talk, I don't think," she told the man who had struck her down. "He was by himself out in the woods all this time. All he does is growl."
The demon looked back and forth between the two of them. "He cannot speak. He cannot reason," he stressed, looking at the rapidly-healing wounds on his forearm. "So you're telling me you have come here in the middle of the worst storm of the century to deliver me an animal."
"He's not an animal! He's your brother!"
"As he is now, he is nothing but a stain on his name, a perverted legacy of his dead parents." Looking him over once again, eyes lingering on the authentic handiwork of the fire rat, he continued walking. "One month. Make him into a rational being again in a month and then I will accept him. If your progress is not satisfactory, I will execute him myself."
Off he walked, into his chauffeured vehicle, leaving the two of them staring after him and shivering in the rapidly worsening cold.
"Come on, Inuyasha," she grumbled, wiping tears from her eyes. "Let's go home. If it's the last thing I do, we're going to make that jerk treat you like the miracle you are." Grabbing his hand, unafraid of his claws touching her soft human skin, she brought him back to the car and buckled him in.
Inuyasha sat in silence during the ride back to her home. Sesshomaru had said that his parents were dead. He was many things, cruel, mean, rude, cold, arrogant, but he had never been a liar. That meant his brother was all he had left. His brother and his mate. Kagome was still silently crying. Leaning over, he pressed his lips to her face, tasting her tears even as he erased them.
"T-thank you," she said in a breathy, shuddering voice. "That was… You're… Thanks."
Her face was red the entire drive back to the shrine.
O\o/O
"I'm telling you it's true, Miroku! Why else would I offer you money when you know I'm broke, huh?"
"It's not just for the money that I'm doing this, Kagome. Where's the number you promised me?"
The two of them walked into the living room where Inuyasha was sprawled out on the floor watching cartoons.
"Here," she grumbled, handing him a slip of paper. "But don't tell Sango who you got it from."
The strange man kissed the paper and grinned at her slimily. "Thanks. I'll name out first daughter after you." He went in for a hug, but before Kagome could act on her visible disgust and push him away, Inuyasha was between them, growling at the male intruder.
"It's okay, Inuyasha!" she said, pulling him back by the hand. He calmed at her touch. "He's a friend. Most of the time, anyway. This is Miroku."
"Dear Buddha," the man murmured. "You weren't lying. It's really the missing Taisho kid."
"When have I ever lied?" Turning away from him, she smiled at Inuyasha. "He's going to teach you how to speak again, and some simple things, like math and history and technology. Miroku used to be a professor at our school before he was fired for sexual misconduct." She gave him a warning glare.
"Good to meet you, Inuyasha," he said, giving him a quick bow. Confused, Inuyasha did the same. "Learning already. Good to know I have a decent pupil for once. I have a feeling we're going to be good friends."
"I'm going to make us some lunch," Kagome said, smiling at how he perked up at the word. "I know you like ramen, Inuyasha, but let's take a little break from that. If you do well in your lessons then you can have all the ramen you can stand."
Inuyasha wanted to follow her but she wanted him to stay with the teacher. Staring at the other male stonily, he waited for him to give him an excuse to take him out. A single bite to the neck would take care of this one.
"Don't worry, buddy, I'm not interested in Kagome. Maybe if it doesn't work out with my dear Sango, but woah, hey, don't growl at me like that." Sighing, he sat on the floor next to him and began to empty his bag of books.
Inuyasha turned around. He remembered books. He didn't like them unless his mother was reading them to him.
"Don't be like that, dude. A lot is riding on this for both of us. If I help you out, you get Kagome and probably a shit ton of money. Help me help you, okay? And then I can get my old job back and be known as the guy that reintegrated the famous Inuyasha into society."
The lesson started off with stuff that he vaguely remembered, like the alphabet and spelling. He was able to understand the words he was reading after a little while. It helped that he was eager to learn, and Miroku hypothesized that his demon genes made him more apt than a plain human would be. If this suffering was what it took to have Kagome as his mate, he would man up and do it.
For a couple weeks, the pattern continued. Miroku would come over and teach him, Inuyasha would learn, Kagome would make them a lunch, and then the learning would continue long into the night. It was a good life. A nice life. He was impatient to get to a place where he could be good enough for Kagome, but as long as they were spending time together, he was happy.
One day as Miroku arrived, he heard them talking outside the house.
"I don't know about this, Kagome," Miroku said, sounding tired. "It's been a while already and he's still not able to say anything or write. I know he understands what I'm saying most of the time, maybe even all the time, but there's nothing for us to show."
"What are you saying?" Kagome was hostile. It had his claws itching to strike.
"I'm saying I don't think we can meet the deadline."
"That can't be! Inuyasha needs a family, Miroku. I promised him."
"Look, he's smart, but he's just been out there so long that it's going to take longer than a single month to rehabilitate him. This is a job for a team of specialists, not one former professor and a teenage girl."
"Just help him. Help him, please, Miroku. He deserves the best life. The life he was robbed of by those supremacists that bombed his house and killed his parents."
He sighed. "I'll keep trying. All I'm saying is you're not going to get a happy ending here. Talk to your family because I think you're going to have him on your hands for a lot longer than you initially planned."
"Mama and Jii-chan and Sōta all love him."
"And you?"
"W-well obviously I want him here! I'm the one who brought him here after all." She sounded flustered. "Get inside. You're late for your lesson."
The disgraced professor walked into the living room snickering, eyes on his pupil.
"You heard, huh? I figured, what with those ears of yours and all." Looking around, he grinned in a way that could only be described as evil before sitting down. "Kagome told me her brother's at school and her mom's out visiting friends with the old man. Meanwhile, she's going shopping. What do you say we have a different kind of lesson today?"
Inuyasha scooted closer, skeptical.
"Here. I'm guessing you didn't have sex ed out in the woods, did you, Mowgli?" Opening his laptop, he tapped on the keys until the screen showed lots of people rather than the usual words. "This, my friend, is what all us men pursue education for. I know for a fact it's what you're doing it for."
The half-demon stared at the screen, transfixed. A woman with long black hair like Kagome was kneeling before a man. A demon man. Her mouth was hungrily sucking on his organ, taking the gigantic thing inside her throat with only the smallest bit of difficulty. Immediately, he felt himself responding to the sights and sounds. His own member was growing hard and he crossed his arms, hoping to cover it with his sleeves. That could be hidden, but he didn't stop feeling it. The yearning had his insides twisting and turning. He had seen his packmates mate before, privacy being a foreign thing among their kind, but there was never a scene like this in the forest.
The woman whom he was picturing as Kagome lay on her back with her legs sticking straight up in the air. In one movement, the demon male slammed himself inside her, filling her up. The two of them moved back and forth and the female was shrieking but not in fear. Her hands went up to her ample chest and she began to stroke her breasts, pinching the wide pink nipples. When the demon had reached his completion, he withdrew from her, shooting his semen all over the woman's face and chest. The woman reacted to this mess with pleasure, bringing her breasts to her face and licking the mess off of it.
"That's one of my favorites," Miroku said. Inuyasha silently agreed. "All right, time to get back to multiplication tables."
All throughout his real lessons and lunch, the images from that video stayed in his head. During the meal, he couldn't even look at Kagome. He was afraid she would be able to see the thoughts in his head. She seemed a little hurt when he didn't sit with her before bed as he normally did or go into her room and lay on her bed and watch her do homework. It was just that he didn't trust himself anymore. Because of what Miroku had showed him, he wanted to touch her in ways he hadn't thought possible before, and oh, the things he wanted her to do to him…
When his erection kept popping up persistently until well into the evening, he sneaked out from his futon and went to the bathroom. This had to stop. In the video, it hadn't stopped until that massive eruption. Since he didn't have a woman to do it for him, what was he supposed to do? Dropping his hakama to the floor, he stared down at the sight of his upward straining penis. It was much bigger than his pack brothers' members, almost as big as that man's in the video. There wasn't anything for him to stick it in, no mouth, no female.
He grabbed it, wondering what to do, and it was a revelation. This was Kagome's private bathroom, the one she generously allowed him to share, and his nose was filled with her scent. Going over to the hamper, he dug through it, ignoring his shame. Just once. Only one time would he do this just so it would go down for good and stop bugging him. Finally finding what he was after, he held her undergarments to his face. This, this was the scent that tantalized him. His hand wrapped around his member again and he stroked himself. Slow at first, he pumped himself, getting to know what he liked and what he wanted. All he could think about was Kagome.
How she would look with her legs in the air and what he held inside her.
How she would lick her lips and whine for him to shoot his load in her mouth so she could taste him.
But he would deny her. He would have to deny her and fertilize her womb with his seed instead so their pack could grow. Later, once he was sure she was thoroughly pupped. Then they would do all sorts of different things. But not before. No.
"Inuyasha? What are you doing up—"
Sleepy and concerned, Kagome hadn't knocked. Oh gods, why hadn't she knocked!? He had been too absorbed in his activity to hear her coming, and the sound of her voice and the sight of her braless in her thin tank top and shorts had him spilling his seed all over his hand and clothes. The two of them stared at one another, her shocked, pink lips parted, not knowing what she was doing to him, what she had been doing to him. He was mortified, the feeling only increasing when he realized she was looking at the garment of hers that he still held. Never had he wanted to go back to his forest pack before, but he was certainly going to now.
"Inuyasha, it's okay," she said in her gentle voice, coming in the room and closing the door behind her. "It's not—you don't have to feel bad. I do it, too."
He whined, backing away from her. How she pitied him. He would rather she hated him than pitied him.
"Give me your clothes. I'll put them in the wash." Reaching behind him, she turned on the tub. "Better wash up in the meantime."
Grabbing his hakama from the floor, she held out her hands and waited for the rest of his clothing. Face red, he did so. Disrobing was part of mating and he had hoped that would be the only time she'd see him like this. Her face was red and her eyes were on the floor. Did he disgust her?
"Uh, that too."
Releasing his death grip on her panties, he sank into the water, wishing he could drown himself. Release had been good, but it hadn't been worth that encounter. Hating himself, Inuyasha washed his hair and scrubbed the filth his desire had produced off his body.
The door opened just before he got out.
"I'm sorry," Kagome said. "For not knocking before. And now." Instead of going away, she sat on the rim of the tub. "Don't be embarrassed. I do it, too. Those panties you were holding? I was doing what you did while wearing them."
His face matched hers in color. That had been the scent that always drew him.
Kagome grabbed a washcloth and started to bathe him like he was a pup. He wanted to growl at her for it but he couldn't help but like to be touched by her any way she wanted to touch him.
"I know I shouldn't be doing this," she murmured, leaning closer. His nose twitched. The scent that made him react was back and it was fresh. "But you're so beautiful, Inuyasha. Were you touching yourself and thinking about me? The way I do thinking about you?" The washcloth dragged over his pectoral muscles and she rubbed it over his nipple. He shuddered. He didn't think males could be sensitive there. "Sometimes I feel like this is all a dream..."
Inuyasha met her eyes and she drew closer to him. When her lips touched his own, his member twitched to life again. Gods, would it ever go down again now that it had been awakened?
"I'm sorry!" she whimpered, pulling away from him and dropping the washcloth in the water. "It's wrong. I shouldn't take advantage of you. Gods, but you've never even seen another young girl, you have no idea what pretty is and how handsome you are. If you knew, we wouldn't be here like this." There were tears in her eyes and he wanted to kiss them away. "I'll go. Wear the robe hanging on the door until the laundry is done."
When she was halfway to her feet, he grabbed her wrist, launching out of the water.
"Kagome!" he choked out. Woven into her name were all the things he wanted to tell her: don't go, don't leave me, you are mine, I am yours.
She covered her trembling lips and looked at him with her big gray eyes. To his dismay, her tears fell rapidly. He had been bad. He had made her cry. Giving in to the purest of his desires, he took her tears from her, kissing her cheeks.
Kagome put her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his own, all sweet justice.
"I love you, too, Inuyasha," she whispered, going back to her room.
O\o/O
The next day at breakfast, one of Kagome's friends from college dropped by. Mrs. Higurashi let him in.
"Kagome, dear! Hojo is here with some more work for you."
To Inuyasha's delight, Kagome pulled a baggy sweater over her pajamas. Good. No other man should see her that way.
"Thanks so much, Hojo! But it really wasn't necessary. I was going to go to class today and my advisor had everything for me." She had been skipping class here and there so she could help him.
"It's nothing, Kagome. Just taking care of a small headache for you." His eyes flitted over to Inuyasha. "Is that your project?"
She gave him a warning look. "That's Inuyasha. He's staying with us for a little while." Her mother called her to help with breakfast and she murmured her apologies. "Thanks for this, Hojo. See you later!"
That left him alone with the rival male.
"So you're Kagome's pet," he drawled. "Must be nice."
Inuyasha growled at him.
Hojo laughed. "Do you think you could ever in a million years have Kagome? You can't even fucking talk. They're going to pack you up and send you away to some institution any day now once Kagome realizes you're a failure, just you wait. Then things will finally go back to normal."
After that, Inuyasha began to learn in earnest. It wasn't that he believed a word that Hojo said, not even a little, but he made a good point. Even though Kagome seemed to understand him on some fundamental level, they needed to speak the same language. What if their pups couldn't understand him? And how would he provide for them in this world that added so many extra steps to hunting? Miroku was astounded at his progress. In mere days he went from barks and growls to speaking like he once did. Half-forgotten things came back to him, words and letters and writing, and he forced his muscles to move in a human way.
When he had memorized an entire passage of poetry, Miroku deemed him ready for his brother's test. Two days early, too.
Inuyasha was thrilled. Once the test was over, he could give Kagome the picture she wanted and Sesshomaru would help him set up a den—er, house, for the two of them. It was all coming together. Soon, the premonition that he'd had when he had first seen her would come true. Inuyasha and Kagome were going to be together forever.
Sesshomaru asked a lot of him when it was time for the test. Reading, writing, word problems. He had a little trouble with the algebra since he had only spent an afternoon working on math like that, but eventually was able to figure it out. In spite of himself, his brother seemed impressed.
"It appears as though your blood has proved true. Welcome back, Inuyasha."
He nodded at him. "Thanks. Anyway, you should come to the shrine sometime. It would probably be good for you to fill me in on the aftermath of what happened to Mother and Father and just how your life has been these years. I'll make an appointment on the way out." He was eager to see Kagome. She had been acting more and more distant after their kiss and now that he could talk she was clamming up. After everything he had done today, all he had proved, he could go to her as a man and tell her everything that was in his heart.
"I believe it would be for the best that you stay away from the shrine girl and her people."
"What?" he laughed. "No way. I owe everything to Kagome and—and it's more than that."
A sort of understanding gleamed in his brother's eyes. "I see. Very well." Pushing a button on his desk, he said, "Bring the girl in."
One of Sesshomaru's guards brought Kagome in. He was surprised; she hadn't come with him in the car that had been sent.
"Kagome!" he said excitedly, loving the taste of his new life's first word in his mouth just as he loved the woman it belonged to. "You're here! Did they tell you? I passed. We can go home together."
She shook her head, looking anywhere but at him. "No. We can't. You belong here."
Head cocked in confusion, he didn't know what to say. "But I don't know him," he said, gesturing to his stranger of a brother. "I know you. I want to be with you."
"You need to stay where you belong. It—I was wrong to take you from the woods." The first arrow pierced his heart. "I wasn't prepared for the kind of burden you are." A second. "Stay with your family. He's the only one that wants to take care of you."
Once she was gone, he staggered back, collapsing into the chair. Was this what the deer had felt as he'd delivered the killing blow? It felt like worse.
The years after that passed in a hedonistic blur.
No matter how many women he lost himself in, how many drugs he did, the amount of fame he enjoyed, or the accolades he earned with his academic research could get Kagome out of his head. Frequently, he remembered what she had said to him in her bathroom that night. That he didn't know what he looked like or what she looked like. Well, now he had seen it all, been desired by them all, and he wanted nothing more than to go back to that tiny bathroom and exchange one more inexperienced kiss with that girl who had no idea how exquisitely beautiful she was.
Why had she told him she loved him? Was it just more pity? Never had he thought pity could be so cruel.
Every year, he returned to the mountains. There was no urge in him to rejoin his former pack. He was too different now. They would not recognize one another, and they deserved to remember him as he was, the furless prodigy pup they had saved. No, he went to the mountains every February for a different reason. Some people speculated it was due to his PTSD from losing his parents in that month and becoming a child of the wilderness. In reality, it was because of her. There was a fundamental desire rooted deep inside of him to revisit the place they had first met.
It had been three years.
A storm was raging outside that rivaled the one that had brought Kagome to him. In case the lines went down like what happened back then, Inuyasha called his brother.
"Hey, Sessh. Just letting you know I arrived all right."
"Good to hear. I was just watching your latest interview. The book sales are doing well and I heard rumors that you are penning the movie script as well?"
"You heard right. It's my life, it's only fair that I get to write it. I've got a hand in casting as well."
"This is all more than even I expected of you. Contrary to my worries, you have done nothing but bring your name appropriate glory. In our father's place, I will tell you that I am proud of your successes."
"Thanks." He felt nothing. "That really means a lot."
"I have named you my heir. It was long overdue. And when you get back, I will personally be teaching you how to be a proper partner in the business. It was what Father always wanted."
"Thank you for everything. I mean it." Static filled the line and he was tired of talking anyway.
"You have Tetsusaiga with you, correct?" It sounded like a simple yet bland question to anyone who didn't know the demon, but Inuyasha sensed his brother's worry. That he was alone in a cabin in the woods that had been the start of all this mess was giving him some anxiety.
"Yeah. I always keep it on me." He looked to where it lay on the heated floors, half out of its scabbard where he had carelessly dropped it once he entered. "Damn thing doesn't work for shit, though."
"Not yet it doesn't. But Father left it to you for a reason, and I trust that reason to be made clear."
"Listen, I better go, Sesshomaru. The trip was long and I'm kind of tired. It was good talking to you."
"Likewise. Call again when you're coming back, or should any trouble arise."
"Will do."
Silence.
Inuyasha had spent the last few years trying to avoid silence most of the time, but it was during his cabin retreats that he allowed himself to drown in it. The only audible thing up here was the howling of the wind, which sometimes sounded almost like wolves...
Was that a human scream?
Even someone like him with advanced hearing capabilities was hardly able to distinguish between that sound and the next screech of the wind. But for a second there, he had been certain. Just in case. He would go outside and do a quick patrol of the perimeter just in case someone was in trouble...or intended to cause him trouble.
Outside, the storm was getting worse. Though it was hardly noon, the sky was as black as night. Snow was being whipped in flurries all around and he squinted, trying to see. There, in the distance, was an inky black blot marring the pure white of the landscape. A person? An animal? He came closer to check. Gods, but it was a human. Grabbing them under the arms, he hoisted them over his shoulder and ran for the entrance. Who knew how long they had been out there?
The first thing he did was remove their heavy ice-encrusted jacket and take off their shoes. It was a woman, judging by the long hair and small form. This might be awkward for her, but he was going to have to completely undress her as she was unconscious and a pale blue. A heart beat weakly in her chest, and it was only when she was down to her undergarments that his brain cast off its blindfold of denial and he realized exactly who it was he had naked on his sofa.
Kagome. The storm had brought him Kagome again.
This revelation only gave him pause for a moment before he sprang into action, working twice as fast as before. Now that it was Kagome's life and comfort on the line, he had to push himself. The words she had told him echoed in his brain. I love you. You're a burden. Which was it, he wanted to ask her?
Maybe now he'd finally have the chance.
The girl stayed passed out in his bed for hours. Inuyasha only left her side to freshen the hot water bottles. When she began to wake, he felt like a speechless animal again. What would she say? Why was she here? Did she want to find him?
Kagome opened her eyes and her gray gaze was immediately drawn to him.
"Oh no," she whimpered. "Can't. Have to... Have to..." Weakly, she freed herself from the covers, stumbling to her feet.
"Hey, hey," he said, holding her upper arms to support her. "You've been through a lot. Get back in bed."
She pushed him away with the tiny amount of force she possessed. "Can't," she repeated. With uneven steps, she walked to the bedroom door. Before she could reach it, she lost her footing and would have fallen flat on her face had he not been there to catch her.
"Fuck," he hissed, carrying her back to the bed. To have her in his arms, to have her in his bed, was too much for him. "You're delirious and you still hate me that much? What did I do, Kagome? I thought we were friends. Maybe even more than friends."
Burrowing under the covers, she shivered. Still, one hand of hers peeked out and found his own. Without opening her eyes, she mumbled, "Never hate you, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha didn't let go of her hand the whole night. Not even when he climbed in beside her, deciding to treat himself to this one small happiness of being wrapped in her scent while wrapping her in his arms. It was his first unmedicated sleep in three long years.
Just before dawn, she woke him. Kagome was thrashing, shaking, making noises like a runt of the litter newborn pup, the one everyone left in a corner because they knew it was going to die and didn't deserve precious resources. It hurt his heart and he began to panic. How sick was Kagome? The storm continued to rage outside and he didn't even need to open the door to know they were snowed in. She needed medicine. He didn't know what kind. Could he leave her in order to get it?
"Need to go," she groaned, shocking him. Kagome pushed him away, hating him even in her delirium. "Can't be with you…"
It surprised him how strong and quick his anger came to the surface. All the years of being abandoned by her, of wondering what she was doing but being too afraid to have someone check up on her, of wondering what he could have done differently so that she wouldn't have sent him away, immediately overwhelmed him. Quieting an instinctual growl, he picked her up, shaking her free of the bedding. Her eyes opened and he was unprepared for the reaction his entire self would have to engaging in an impromptu awkward staring contest with her.
"Inuyasha? Is this real?"
With an effort, he was able to sneer at her, hoping he was looking at her like she was just an annoyance. Kagome's face turned red and she sniffled. Gods, but there would be tears. Anything but her tears. That would undo him completely.
"I—Am I naked!?" Immediately, she started to struggle to be free.
"Calm down. You've still got your granny panties and bra, not that you need the latter."
Her face screwed up in predictable Kagome-esque fury that he had missed so much. "Put me down, you—"
Inuyasha dumped her in the empty tub, which he was going to do anyway. "Take a bath. You stink." Turning the knobs so they were on full-blast, he turned around and left the room. Just for a few minutes. Just so she thought she would be given privacy. Just so he could think. It wasn't like he could actually leave her alone. Not when she was sick. Not when he had so many things to ask her.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and glanced at it. Sesshomaru. His thumb was halfway to swiping and answering before a feeling came over him. Sesshomaru shouldn't know about Kagome. No one should know about Kagome. This was their secret time, away from everyone and everything else. Finally, he would have his answers, and maybe, just maybe he could get on with his life.
In the time he was gone, Kagome had made herself quite at home. The tub was filled with bubbles the scent of which tickled his nose in a not entirely unpleasant way. His foot was caught on something on the floor and he looked down to see her panties looped around his big toe. Even after all he had been through with women in the past few years, having his bare skin come into contact with such an intimate item of Kagome's clothing made him blush. That and the memories of what had happened the last time they were in a bathroom together.
"You still go barefoot everywhere, huh?" she said, staring at his feet.
He flicked her clothes to the corner like they meant nothing. "Just at home. Ever since you took it upon yourself to make sure I was civilized."
While Kagome would not, could not, look at him, he was the exact opposite. All he could see was her. His greedy eyes scanned what he could see of her form above the bubbles. No significant changes. Even so, it had been three whole years. She was in her final year of college now. Was she still a photography student or had she dropped that for something more practical? He already knew the answer. Kagome was stubborn and didn't have a practical bone in her body. That was why she had been out in the snow in the first place dressed in such insufficient clothing. Probably trying to get a shot of the storm for some extra credit project no one cared about. He stiffened. Had she been trying to get a shot of him, of his secret retreat?
From the little he had heard of her from Sesshomaru, Kagome had used the reward money for finding him to make repairs to her home and shrine. She bought a car. She paid her school fees. Probably was still helping with the bills. It still hurt when he thought about it, that she would sell him out like that. He guessed he could understand the money aspect of it all, though. After he'd been living in a den in the forest, Kagome's home had just seemed like a very comfortable, almost too comfortable, human place. But as he tasted the life of luxury he had been robbed of, he realized they had been living in near-poverty. The shrine survived off of donations and government handouts and whatever money Kagome or her mother could bring in.
It had been three years. What else had she been doing other than spending the money he'd brought her? Was she with that bastard Hojo now? Had she ever been? Him and how many others? Gods, but he hated himself for being consumed by such thoughts. He shouldn't care. He shouldn't still feel like that wild animal in the woods that had just spied a goddess.
"Here." He handed her a cup of hot chocolate.
"Thank you." She took it and gave it a courtesy sip before setting it down on the rim of the tub. "Thank you for everything."
"Just paying you back. Gods forbid you don't get everything you can for services rendered."
For the first time since becoming lucid, Kagome looked at him. "Inuyasha, what's wrong?"
Inuyasha wanted to laugh. Was she so heartless, so completely void of feeling, that she couldn't even begin to guess what he was feeling? Even he didn't quite know what was going on inside him. There were things, things that had gone repressed and unaddressed for far too long, that he could not control. Grabbing one of the washcloths, his hands moved on their own as he began to run it along her shining wet pale perfect skin.
"W-what are you doing?"
"What I want," he breathed, brushing away the bubbles hiding her cleavage. "I want to touch you."
With hardly a barrier between him and her, he stroked her neck, over her throat where he had once had so many dreams of kissing her before leaving his mark on her skin, one of the most dominant lessons he remembered from his childhood life. When his hand disappeared under the soapy water, the both of them gasped in unison. He was feeling without feeling her breasts, her stomach, then straight to her thighs. The hesitant animal-boy inside of him was too timid to directly touch her between the legs like he had with other women, but he did it anyway.
Immediately, she grabbed his wrist, causing him to meet her eyes.
"What about what I want?"
"What?" he asked, and it came out more growl than word.
"In a bed. For the first time, it should be in a bed."
His heart leapt at her insinuation that there would be more than just the one time. Taking her from the bath, he wrapped her in a warm robe before lacing her fingers with his own and bringing her back to the bedroom. His heart had never beat so fast before, not even at his first time. Kagome was nervous too, he could tell from the way she clutched the robe tighter. It was his turn to lure her out, to show her things.
She jumped when he put his hands on her shoulders, meeting his eyes for just the briefest of instances before her face turned red and she looked away again. Bringing her close, he just held her for a second, her head against his heart. Could her human ears pick up the song his heart was drumming for her? Slowly, her arms circled around him and she peeked up. Her little face, free of makeup and showing how tired she was with little squiggles of her wet hair falling over her forehead, was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
First, he kissed her nose. Then her left cheek. Her right cheek. Between the eyes. Her chin. Finally, her lips. They were trembling by the time he got to them and he didn't need to open his eyes to be able to tell she was crying, that acrid salty scent assaulting his nose and the familiar taste of her tears on his lips. Their kiss went from the almost innocent one so alike what they had shared years ago to an open-mouthed clash that took his breath away, quickly growing in passion and intensity.
Unable to forget that she was naked underneath the robe, he urged her on her back on the bed. Before she could change her mind, before she could try and run from him again, he had to have her. Yanking the tie of the robe open, he explored her first with his eyes. Perfect. She was the most perfect woman in the world, perfect for him. How could she have ever thought that he would want to leave her for another once he went into the world? As many times as she released him, as she forced him away, he would somehow come back to her, pride be damned.
Not one to deny himself, Inuyasha kissed her small breasts, drunk on the little sounds she made and the scent that he was always seeking in others. When Kagome felt his fangs on her nipple, she arched her back, crying out for more. Tonight, he was her servant. Her hands twined in his hair and she stroked his ears. Inuyasha groaned, the sound muffled by how full his mouth was of her breast. Every night at the shrine, he had sat on the floor of her bedroom while she sat on the bed, and she would brush his hair and stroke his ears. Back then, he had thought the feelings her touches had evoked were pleasant, but now that he knew himself and his body he easily recognized the warming lust in his gut.
Kissing down her stomach, he let out a canine whine at the sight of her parted legs and the treasure they revealed. Almost afraid to touch such a delicate flower, he reached out and ran his knuckle up and down her pussy lips. Her hymen was clearly visible. So only he had been unfaithful. All those women, the shadows of Kagome, were nothing to him. More lessons he forced himself to undertake so that he might better be able to please her. His learned tongue collected the sweet liquid arousal that his virgin woman gave to him, rubbing it over her clit, salivating heavily with desire. Her hips jerked and he held her down, chuckling as he did so. Bringing her legs over his shoulders, he buried his face between her legs and began to eat her out in earnest, his hands on her ass keeping her still and giving him something nice to hold onto.
"Oh gods!" Kagome moaned, her following cries of wordless pleasure practically screams. "Inuyasha, you're making me—I'm about to—"
Growling against her, one of his hands reached up and claimed a breast, squeezing her hard pink nipple between his knuckle. Maybe he was a little too rough, because his claws pricked her the slightest bit, not enough that she would shed blood. However, she seemed to like it. Kagome was pulling on her hair, her legs wrapped around his head punishingly tight as she thrashed, begging for more.
That was his sign to stop.
"W-what?" she asked, wondering at the loss of stimulation. "What happened?"
As he undressed, he held her eyes, enjoying how now that the madness of pleasure had faded a little she was beginning to get shy again. How was she blushing at seeing him unzip his pants when his tongue had just been buried in her snatch? Crawling over her, he kissed her swollen lips. No one else would ever have her. He didn't care anymore. Whether she wanted him or not, he would keep her, to have and to hold.
Inuyasha had never been with a virgin before. This was a first for the both of them. Her lower lip trembled with the discomfort of accepting him and her eyes were clenched shut, tears leaking to rest in her damp hair. To comfort her, because even after everything he would never want to hurt her, he tried to distract her with a kiss. When he reached down between them to play with her clit, she began to respond, and it wasn't long before she was just as hungry for him as she had been before. He tried to go slow and deep, tried to make it nice for Kagome, but the way she was looking up at him through hooded eyes framed by long dark lashes, her face flushed and her pink lips parted, made his movements erratic and soon he felt like a virgin himself, overwhelmed by the opportunity. His groan turned into a whine, speech once again beyond him, and he buried his face between her neck and shoulder.
"You don't have to be gentle with me, Inuyasha," she whispered, her breath tickling his lightly furred ear. "I want you so bad. I don't mind if it hurts a little. I think I'd like it."
Groaning, he covered her mouth with his own, wondering if she knew that her words alone had almost made him lose it. Steadily with hard slams followed by teasing circles, he fucked her while keeping his mouth on hers, too greedy to allow her gasps to resound in the room and instead swallowing them inside himself, imprinting everything she was in his body, in his mind, in his soul. Kagome's arms went from being looped around his neck to clawing at his back, her shuddering breaths and the eager if inexperienced movement of her hips driving him crazy. Both their bodies slick with sweat, he barely managed to hold his orgasm back until her own struck her, and with that first hard clench of her pussy on his cock, he lost himself, spilling his load inside her.
She was still clinging to him with all her limbs five minutes later, pressing his face to her neck as she trembled, salted tears still pouring from her eyes.
Inuyasha forced himself to interrupt the moment.
"I don't care anymore, Kagome," he said, voice pained. "I don't care about how you sent me away before or why. I swear I'll never bother you about it or make you feel bad or do anything to make you want to do it again. Just please don't leave me this time. I can't stand to be rejected by you twice."
Her quiet tears turned to sobs. "I can't! I'm sorry Inuyasha, I can't. I have to—I have to go."
He kept her trapped underneath him. "I will give you everything. All the money I have means nothing to me, but I'll give it all to you. It's yours. Do whatever you want with it. Just stay with me. Be my wife, Kagome."
"I-Is that what you really think of me? You think you can pay me to be with you?"
"What am I supposed to think!" he cried out, frustrated. "You treated me like you cared, you kissed me, you told me you loved me, and then you just sold me to my brother. And for what? A fucking million that barely made a dent in my family's bank accounts." He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her before pressing her to his heart again. "You're worth so much more to me than that, Kagome, but you were able to put a price on me. On this."
She was crying so hard now that she was nearly incoherent, her arms wrapped around him in a stranglehold.
"I-I didn't want to!" she wept. "Gods, Inuyasha. If it had been up to me, I never would have left you. But your brother kept showing up to my school with bigger and bigger offers. He told me that you were too good for me even if you were wild and that he was going to take you from me regardless so I might as well take the money while it was still being offered. And Jii-chan said that what you felt for me wasn't real, that you were just grateful and imprinted on me like a duckling or something. He said you needed to be with your blood and I was treating you like an animal and not a person by wanting to keep you. I wanted to be selfish, Inuyasha. You don't know how hard it's been for me since you left."
Inuyasha's hands were shaking with rage. Forcing himself to calm down so he could better comfort Kagome, he started to plot in his mind. That bastard. That bastard Sesshomaru had been responsible for this. He had known how much he had been hurting and just kept pacifying him with parties and toys like he was nothing more than a pouting child.
"I'll talk to him, Kagome," he told her rocking her back and forth. "You don't have to be afraid of him. I'll protect you."
They stayed in the cabin for a solid week. By the end of it, he was more in love with her than he ever thought possible. Every time his brother tried to call, he blocked it. He still didn't trust himself to speak to him without going apeshit. Inuyasha didn't know if he ever would be able to face him again and not get into a massive fight.
In retrospect, he should have at least texted.
Inuyasha should have been surprised when Sesshomaru showed up unannounced, but he was instead merely irritated. Kagome had been showing him how to make tempura. They had already made ramen noodles from scratch and he was practically salivating thinking of the finished product.
"I knew it," his older brother sneered. "I could smell that human whore from the bottom of the mountain."
The animal inside him wanted to bite Sesshomaru again, but the man held the dog back. "Sesshomaru. Kagome and I have been talking and she told me some things."
"Are you truly going to believe that human—"
"Fuck off, she showed me the texts and everything." For the first time, he felt hurt. That was unexpected. But Sesshomaru was his brother. He was supposed to act like family, not destroy his happiness. "Why? You knew how I felt about her and you still did this."
"Why?" He frowned menacingly. "It was humans that killed your Mother and our Father. Never forget that."
"Kagome had nothing to do with that!"
"They always have the potential to turn, Inuyasha, don't you see?" The tips of his claws began to glow green. "Do you honestly think she would be here now if she didn't have an ulterior motive? You can't see clearly. This needs to end. Now."
Inuyasha panicked when the energy whip began to extend. Again relying on his instincts just as he had when he was a child of the forest, he grabbed for his father's last gift to him, the sword Kagome had jokingly placed on the counter to cut the shrimp with. As the whip made contact with it and he pushed it back with the sword, a massive bright light erupted and engulfed the room, completely eclipsing his brother.
And half the cabin.
"Fuck," Inuyasha cursed, staring out into the snow.
Kagome peeked out from behind his back. "Was that… Was that you?"
Looking down at the rusty sword in his hand, he squinted back into the snow and tried to find his brother. He could feel his presence, but he was nowhere to be seen. "I think…yeah?"
She sighed. "Guess we're getting take-out."
Inuyasha laughed and kissed her. "Come on, let's drive back to the city. We can start moving your stuff to my place."
She was already pulling on her boots. "I call left side of the bed!"
He ran after her, dialing emergency on his phone. Someone had to clean up this mess. The wind picked up, and he swore he heard his old pack howling along with it.
"Come on, Inuyasha, or am I going to have to drive you down again!?"
Grinning, he put his head back and howled one last time, just to let his pack know he was happy and his own pack was beginning.
O\o/O
Sesshomaru ripped off the oxygen mask, flinging it in the face of the paramedic attending him in the back of the ambulance.
"This Sesshomaru does not need to breathe like a human. This Sesshomaru is an exalted—"
"Uh huh," he said. "Let's add head trauma, a severe concussion, and confusion to your list of injuries, then."
"What are you doing here?" the demon snarled at the small girl that had hitched a ride with him.
Her face was half-hidden behind a thick binder. "Uh, oh, um, my name is Rin. I brought the paramedics to you. I'm an intern at Taisho Corp. and—"
"Didn't we fire you three years ago?"
"Mr. Jaken's accusations were baseless and malicious."
"So you didn't steal my workout shorts from my gym bag?"
Rin turned to the paramedic. "He's blabbering nonsense. Shouldn't he be sedated?"
He grinned. "My pleasure."
As the needle jabbed into his vein, Sesshomaru glared at his stalker. Dangerous ones like her should be kept close. It looked like he would be getting a new secretary. Jaken was annoying, anyway.