The next transformation was rougher than usual.
I grimaced as my left side clicked in place. I stretched up carefully in the dark and I looked up at the tree. I sighed and walked right past it, looking for a bush.
Being in my human form seemed to make the bugs come in the dozens. I swatted at them under the bush, thoroughly uncomfortable.
Something snapped again and I ignored it. I looked up at the waxing moon and then someone grunted.
"I lost her here."
A chill went down my spine and I stiffened. It was them, Fadiku and Midoka.
Midoka hummed. "She's still here." He said to Fadiku. "She changes scent somehow."
Fadiku groaned. "We followed her scent all this way and we lose her right here." I could see his huge feet as he began to pace. "There's a village nearby."
"Yes, yes," Midoka sounded distracted. I suddenly felt air on my toes and I stiffened up, trying to curl into a ball. "What of it?"
"We should go." Fadiku said, and I suddenly thought to their human-like bodies. They didn't have every part of a man, did they? "Get some food, some weapons." I relaxed. He didn't mention women.
Midoka muttered. "We're looking for Kirara."
Fadiku sounded impatient now. "She's nearby, this close to that village," he paused, maybe to point. "Kirara might be there."
They sounded the same, rough and grunting, but they seemed more logical. Maybe they were half-breeds of some kind too. I had no idea what sort of demon they were though.
"We're not to gain attention," Midoka sounded more focused. "You know what Nidoku said-"
Fadiku grunted. "We're going to get Kirara and we'll make her give us Kagome." Who was Nidoku?
Midoka sniffed, stirring dirt in front of my face. "We should ask him for guidance." Maybe he was their master.
"Guidance?" Fadiku demanded. "We can do this ourselves."
"Nidoku just wants the-"
"I know what he wants!" Fadiku cut him off. Their bickering made me wonder how they were connected. Were they related?
Midoka growled warningly. "Calm yourself."
They were quiet for a moment and Fadiku said calmly. "I apologize." He muttered. I knew for sure they were around some humans. They were too polished and talkative. "We'll ask him," they were talking quieter now.
Midoka grunted in approval. "We'll be back," he promised Fadiku and, unknowingly, me.
I heard twigs snap while the two of them walked the other way, away from the village. I stiffened up and then I poked my head out of the bush. I thought over what had happened and curled back under the bush.
Midoka and Fadiku were demons, possibly kin. They were talking up a storm, and they sounded bright. Nidoku was their leader, he could be human. How could a human control demons? What did he have that made them want to follow him instead of eat him?
Who was that man they were eating when I stumbled upon them? Had Nidoku asked them to take him out, and then look for me? They were looking for Kirara and Kagome long before-
I suddenly remembered that night my village had been attacked. A demon similar to Midoka had been asking for Kagome. Had he been Nidoku? Had Nidoku been the demon who killed my mother?
I looked at my dirty hands and then I looked through the bush, down the path Midoka and Fadiku had gone.
If Nidoku had killed my mother and was looking for Kagome, what did he offer Midoka and Fadiku that would have made them follow him whether he was human or not?
I suddenly remembered what he was looking for: the sacred jewel.
But the problem was this: Even I had been around long enough to know that the sacred jewel had been gone for years now. Did Nidoku not know?
Someone had to tell him the jewel was gone, and someone had to tell him that he had killed my mother –possibly my father too- for a jewel that no longer existed.
I didn't know what to say.
I paced around their tent, my fur raised. Kirara watched me, and asked, "What's going on with you?"
I turned to her and I confessed my secret. "I'm a half demon."
Kirara was frozen for one moment before she knocked me over. She pinned me to the ground and demanded. "You're a what?"
"Easy there," Miroku said before I could answer. It had relieved them all to see me moving about today. "Kirara, be gentle."
I looked up at Kirara and said it again. "I'm a half demon."
Kirara leaped lightly off of me, beginning to pace. Her fur was bushed out and, momentarily distracted, I ran a paw over the thickness of it. She must be warm all the time. I wasn't sure if my fur was that thick.
"Why didn't you just tell me?" Kirara looked at me, incredulous.
I sat up and licked one paw. "You would have done that."
"Done what?" She stopped licking her whiskers.
I pounced on her and she started purring. "Oh," she said in understanding and I rolled off of her. She laid on her belly while I laid on my back.
"What's it like?" She asked me.
I peeked at her and said, "It's cold sometimes. I'm only like Kagome or Sango for a night. Sometimes I'm a girl for the whole day."
Kirara looked interested. "Sounds nice."
"Not really." I said, rolling onto my belly. "It's not long at all. I don't like it." Lately, I had been wishing I was in my human form more and more. . .
Kirara went quiet, when I told her what I originally meant to. She listened while I filled her in about my mother's death, Nidoku, and the demons that chased me.
Kirara stiffened when I finished. "Why did you lead them here?"
I gave her a hurt look. "I didn't lead them here. They followed my scent."
Kirara hissed, making everyone look at us again. "And they're coming back."
I nodded and looked down, saddened. "I didn't mean to."
Kirara nudged me with her paw. "I know." She said, apologizing. "I'm sorry."
I looked at her as she went on. "I just think about her kittens and I. . ." She meant Sango and her babies. I nodded in understanding and Kirara sighed. "You won't change for another week."
I nodded at her words. I could only talk to them in my human form, but the next one was a week away. They could come back tomorrow and everyone would be clueless.
I climbed to my paws and looked at her. She looked at me in thought and finally suggested, "Let's see if they get anything out of our fights."
I debated it for a moment, only to lose all my thoughts when Kirara tackled me.
I took it upon myself to guard Kagome the next few days. Kirara guarded Sango's babies, I liked what she called them, and she stayed by Sango's side at night.
I looked at Kagome's pink face and she glanced at Inuyasha in affection. She held something soft in her hands, and Inuyasha glanced back behind them at the hut. They were walking through the village nonchalantly, but I saw them look around every now and then.
I followed them with light pawsteps, trying to be invisible. I knew Inuyasha could smell me, and his dog ears twitched when I stepped on a puddle, confirming my suspicions.
Kagome turned suddenly, her brown eyes worried. "Inuyasha-"
"They're not following us." Inuyasha said soothingly. He pecked Kagome's temple through her long dark hair. I sniffed, and noted that something in Kagome changed.
Kagome shrugged and Inuyasha grabbed her hand. The sweet, soft smell became sharper and actually sort of spicy. Inuyasha sniffed, and then I could smell it on him too. Kagome blushed, and Inuyasha made a soft sound, giving her a gentle look. I had never seen Inuyasha so quiet and kind.
He led Kagome to one of the huts, and I let them walk in, looking up at it in wonder. It had flowers lining the top of the entrance, and I discovered that it actually had a door, unlike some of the other huts.
It smelled faintly of other humans, and underneath the smell of water, sweat, and sleep, the hut smelled like the scent that was on Kagome and Inuyasha.
I peeked in to see Kagome spreading out the soft fabric on the wood floor of the hut. Inuyasha stood nearby, sniffing. Kagome's smell sharpened with the odd scent and she glanced up at Inuyasha, suddenly shy.
Inuyasha glanced at Kagome, and then he saw something on her face. They were facing me, and I drifted out of view, going to the side of the hut and sitting down.
Inuyasha asked worriedly. "You okay?"
Kagome sighed. "I'm. . . fine."
Inuyasha protested. "You don't sound fine." Something shuffled. "What's wrong?"
Kagome tried to get it off her chest. "I see Sango and Miroku every day, and I just feel a little. . ."
There was a pause, and then Inuyasha understood.
"Jealous?" Inuyasha sounded incredulous. His scent suddenly wrapped around Kagome's, he was giving her a hug. "Kagome, you're not jealous, are you?"
Kagome laughed nervously. "Maybe a little."
Inuyasha asked, suddenly soft-voiced, "You want a little one? Like Sango?"
I lifted my head up from the ground, my ears perking up. Kagome wanted babies?
"I, um. . ." Kagome's answer was delayed. "I want a little Inuyasha running around." That sounded like a yes, even to me.
Inuyasha hummed, touched. He sounded playfully thoughtful when he said, "A little Kagome would be nice."
Kagome laughed softly and then Inuyasha's scent was stronger. Something was happening.
Kagome suddenly cooed, "Do you ever think about it sometimes?"
Inuyasha mumbled, "All the time."
Kagome sighed, "Me too," and then the spicy smell came back. It smelled a little odd, and made my ears perk up. Sniffing it made me feel sort of funny, like I wanted to brush against someone else's pelt, flicking their ears with my tail.
"Let's try." Kagome said softly. "Can we?"
I didn't hear Inuyasha's reply, but I heard Kagome breathe sharply, and I took that as a yes.
The smell became stronger, and then I heard soft, cooing sounds. I stood straight up and began to walk away. Something was going on, and I sort of knew what it was.
When my mother was younger, she and Father sometimes smelled like that on one the rare nights of Father being human with me. During dinner, Mother would look at Father every so often with a peaceful, wistful look in her eyes. Father caught her gaze sometimes, and he would smile sweetly at her, making her blush.
After our purposefully late dinner, they kissed me goodnight and disappeared. I would sleep in the hut by myself, and in the morning, Mother smelled faintly of flowers and the scent that filled the air now. The odd smell lingered on Father too, even when he was in his Nekomata fur.
I often found him washing the morning after their disappearance, so I never got a clear whiff of it. Smelling Kagome and Inuyasha now, I now knew what the smell really smelled like, and how it formed.
According to Kagome, they were making a baby, a kitten, as Kirara called it.
I waited for them several yards away, looking up at the rain that was beginning to fall. The smell made me feel wistful, and I thought longingly for another Nekomata like Kirara and me, only for it to be a male-
I stiffened up and shook my fur rapidly. Being in heat was an awkward sensation, and it hadn't been long enough since my last one. It wasn't quite time yet. I shook my fur out, daydreaming. It had nearly been a month since my last cycle - it had been days before I had ran into Midoka and Fadiku.
They -Inuyasha and his mate- never came out of the hut, and I waited, almost impatient, in the rain. I knew making babies took a while, and maybe they were done; they were probably just trying to avoid the rain now.
When the sun rose the next day, I tip-toed over to the hut and peeked in after shaking my wet fur. The sliding door was opened to a crack and I peered in. Kagome was sleeping curled up by Inuyasha with his red kimono draped over her. He looked half-asleep, his gold eyes were half-opened.
His ears twitched, and his gold eyes blurrily focused on me. He gave me a happy, tired smile, and I mewed, dabbing at the cloth with a paw.
He waved me in with a flick of his silver ears, and I crept inside the hut, going straight to Kagome. I sniffed her worriedly. I had no idea if it hurt, and hearing moans all night made me wary. She smelled okay, covered in Inuyasha and soft cotton.
I looked up at Inuyasha, and then I sniffed, going to Kagome's belly. I didn't know if results were immediate. I couldn't smell any change, and Inuyasha sighed suddenly in disappointment. He smelled what I did, but he understood the lack of change.
They weren't successful.
I scooted to Inuyasha's side and gave his ankle a soothing lick. Baby making was apparently sort of difficult.
Inuyasha gently stroked my head with a large hand and muttered, "Thanks."
Thanks for being there and comforting him or thanks for waiting out in the rain for them? It didn't matter, I'd take it.