2.
Inuyasha was sitting on the floor of Kagome's room, finishing her homework. His own was already done, but she had an essay to bring to the school the next day and he was halfway through it. Suddenly he heard a familiar noise and jumped to his feet - just in time to see the door open and the petite girl holding power over his spirit enter the room. She threw her bag carelessly on the ground and closed the door before turning to face him, but his sensitive nose already alerted him to what he was going to see. A long cut was running across her cheek, blood still dripping from her face.
"Kagome!" he exclaimed worriedly and approached her, the essay forgotten. The girl leaned into his embrace and tipped her head away from his chest, not wanting to rub her aching cheek. The hanyou bowed his head and licked the cut, sweeping his tongue across her skin and healing her with his saliva. The girl in his embrace sighed in relief when her pain dulled.
"Thanks, Inuyasha," she whispered and relaxed in his arms. He was still amazed by her willingness to drop her guard around him, she was the first girl who wasn't disgusted by him - a hanyou - holding her and licking her face. He felt her muscles flex under his tongue when she smiled. She smelled and tasted better than ramen. Who knew there was something better than ramen? He felt oddly at peace around her, her presence could at the same time calm his inner youkai, and make him angrier than ever.
She was his mistress and could make his life a living hell - just like Ayame had done with Kouga's at the beginning of their life together: she had made it very clear about who was the alpha wolf in their duo. But Kouga's situation at the start was quite rare - most mistresses were much nicer, just like Sango and Kagome. At least Higurashi mistresses, according to rumors other families could treat their Helps pretty bad. The Higurashi had a different approach for their boys - the girls were treating them more like partners, not underlings. They used the beads only when it was necessary and weren't cruel without reason. From what he had overheard, Sango and Miroku were very intimate - and quite loud about it - ever since the first days of their life together. Miroku was bound to be quiet about their activities, but his smile told Inuyasha everything anyway. Seven other males were living in the Shrine (they were the closest to Mama Kaede, there a few more locations in their district where various members of the family were living) and only two others were sharing their mistresses' beds. The only male who hadn't a mistress and was a full fledged member of the family was Souta, Kagome and Sango's younger brother and grandson of Mama Kaede. The rest - even Kaede's own husband - wore beads.
Inuyasha had been living in Higurashi Shrine with Kagome for the past four months. He had brought all his belongings and was occupying a room connected to Kagome's in the big house where the family was living. His closest family was his half-brother, who was currently living in Kyoto and didn't care about him; he'd never had friends, so there was no one to see that the hanyou's life had changed that fateful day months ago. In his opinion most of the changes were for good - he was a place to belong, people he could claim as his friends, as a Help he wasn't contained against his will and his mistress had enough common sense not to order crazy or weird thing of him.
Now his world was the Shrine grounds and Kagome Higurashi, his mistress and friend. She was the only person who had seen his human form and who had accepted him as he was. She gave him orders, but she did her share of chores - when she wasn't on a mission. In the school, she was sat next to him during the lunch break and she had never denied being his girlfriend when their classmates had tried to tease her for being "the geeky hanyou's girlfriend". She usually was requesting politely, not demanding him to do something and when he was punished it was because he was being a jerk. She never called him "half breed", she was always telling him his ears - disgusting to everyone except her and a few other family members - were nothing to be ashamed of, and had quickly made sure that he wouldn't let anyone but her touch them - which was just fine with him, since he hated people tugging at the damn things. And she loved to watch anime with him.
He knew he should probably hate her and her family for kidnapping him and making him a Help without a chance to refusem… But he didn't really miss it like he probably should have. He just couldn't find it in himself to feel anything but gratitude and warmth when thinking about Kagome. Not one of the Shrine residents looked down at him for his mixed blood, he actually had friends, and the cutest and most amazing girl was currently nuzzling his collarbone and sighing happily. The collar and occasional face-plant seemed to be a small price for acceptance and place in the world for a lone hanyou.
A small part of him - the part which spent too much time with Miroku - hoped one day he and Kagome could be real boyfriend and girlfriend... Or even more.
"Carry me to the bed?" Kagome wrapped her arms around him. It wasn't an order, but he obliged anyway. He wanted her to feel happy, he wanted to do anything he could to make her eyes sparkle with joy. He picked her up and stepped above the discarded notebooks on the floor to place her gently on the bed.
"Want some juice?" he asked, but she shook her head.
"No. I just need some rest. I already told everything to Mama Kaede," she replied.
"How was the mission?" he inquired. The Collared Ones couldn't tell anyone about the matters of the family as it was, but many of the members still kept them more or less in the dark. Kagome was different, though. She was honest and willing to talk to him as her equal. Sometimes it was so easy to forget she could make him obey with one word. Kagome found his hand and started to play with his fingers, not afraid of his sharp claws.
It was always almost too easy to forget this young woman was the strongest miko of her age in the Higurashi family, an excellent fighter and cunning girl in general. Most of the time she appeared to be as innocent as a kitten.
"I stole the Pearl. Tsubaki was absolutely furious, but she couldn't do a thing when I pinned her to a wall with my arrow. It went right through her shoulder," she grinned - a kitten changing in a tiger. "Mama is so proud of me, she told me I could take as much time to rest as I want. I think we'll skip school for the rest of the week."
"That's great, but where did you get the cut?" he stroked her cheek with the knuckles of his free hand. He was proud of her as well, but also felt his heart skip a beat when he realized yet again how dangerous her life was. He regretted that he couldn't go with her - at least not yet. He made a mental note to ask Mama Kaede to let him protect her second granddaughter. He was as good a fighter as any other youkai-blooded person and his canine instincts were making him more than a little inclined to protect his pack mates. But the rule was that the Collared Ones couldn't take part in missions without Mama's approval, no matter who they were.
"That bitch Kikyou," Kagome growled faintly, mimicking his expression of disgust and hate. Her eyes were drooping with sudden tiredness. "She tried to reclaim the Pearl, but I was too fast for her fat ass."
"She's no match for you. Go to sleep, Kagome," he said softly when he saw her eyelids close. He slid off her bed and sat with his back against it, returning to the essay, one ear turned back to listen to her breathing and heartbeat. She rubbed it gently before falling asleep, exhausted from using a lot of her power. Inuyasha didn't mind - he was going to guard her as she slept.
They were friends, caring for each other, and his beads were a material sign of their bond.
A/N: Yeah, it kinda smells a little slave-ish than gang-ish - I've warned you, it's a poor attempt at this AU :D
If I ever do a sequel to this story I'd like to focus on this aspect. I have some ideas, but first I'd like to know if you would like to read another story from this AU?