Kagome wasn't sure what she expected their reactions to be. But Kouga, springing up and admonishing her wasn't it.
"Don't be an idiot." He sounded so much like Inuyasha in that moment, Kagome had to double take. The wolf-prince folded his arms over his chest and nodded firmly with his words. Still, he hadn't carried the sheer annoyance and sharpness in his voice that Inuyasha would have.
Kagome blinked.
"It's not like you're stealing it from us. The old woman said willingly. Plus," He tilted his head up, "Why would I let something so stupid put you in danger."
Kagome's mouth fell open with sudden frustration. How could they even think this was okay? She had no intention of being a leech—especially not if she was going to get better on her own.
Kagome jerked her head to look around at the others. The group of frowning faces made her heart pang.
"You guys can't agree with this!" She felt her voice break as she shouted.
But no one reacted in kind. Sango only cringed and Miroku held out a hand to try and calm her. Before they could put in a piece Kagome tore the blanket off letting it crumple to the ground. She shot up on shaky knees and rushed outside before anyone tried to stop her.
She made it down the uneven steps and stopped at the bottom. Her breath abruptly escaped her and she let herself drop to sit on the last concrete step. She found herself staring at the brown grass and the edge of the dirty step.
She let out deep breath when she heard the door mat being pulled aside.
He didn't say anything as he descended the steps next to her. Kouga stayed silent even as his tail caught the step oddly and twitched from under him.
Kouga hadn't expected the outburst but he couldn't say he didn't necessarily understand it. While Kouga had never been very…pure in his life, he knew his Kagome valued that all too much. She would never hurt anyone—especially not her friends—to help herself. He liked that about her.
But still, it clashed with his desire to protect her. The idea that he could help her when he failed to protect had actually made him really happy. And that she would deny him that made a frustrating knot form in his chest. Part of him wanted to scream at her like he would any lower member of his den but he repressed it.
Instead, he tried to force it down and dug his heels into the hard dirt.
They stayed quiet for a second. Kagome fingered the hem of her shirt nervously. The idea still left something dark in her chest, but with every second it lightened a bit.
A wind brushed through and Kagome shivered. Before she could react, Kouga draped an arm over her.
"You should go inside Kagome." He said shortly.
"I will…soon Kouga-kun….I just don't think that's okay for me to be taking people's aura like that." She struggled with the words.
Kouga squeezed her shoulders for a second.
"I deserve to lose my entire aura to you for blatantly failing to protect you like that. I won't ever put you in danger like that again, Kagome."
"It wasn't your fault Kouga." She tried to reassure him, but when the wolf-prince went stiff she knew he didn't believe her.
Instead, she let out a sigh and allowed herself to lean closer to him.
"It's not just that." She let herself admit. Her voice lowered some but she knew he could still hear her.
"I don't like the idea I don't know if I really want to kiss you because it's you or if it's to steal your aura."
Her heart skipped a beat when he didn't answer at first, but Kouga finally spoke.
"You'll know the same way I knew that I'd still love you if you couldn't see the jewel."
Kagome's face lit up and she jerked her head to look away. She'd known the wolf-prince had the capacity to be romantic but that statement threw her through a hoop.
Her face burned, but she still found some truth in the words. As long as she promised herself not to hurt them, maybe…maybe she could get used to this for just a little while. And then she'd have to hunt for the jewel twice as hard to make it up.
Sensing her reaction, Kouga smiled to himself. He reached out to grab her chin in his hands. Using a little force, he turned her face back to him.
Letting a brilliant smile grace his face he showed just a hint of a fang.
"Well, if you want to test it."
His cocky smile made her mouth drop open. More like the Kouga she knew.
"Kouga." She chided lightly and looked away to be a little stubborn.
And just as she drew her eyes up a flicker of brown caught her eyes.
Kagome gasped.
"Shippou!"
Before the kit could move from his place in the bush, Kouga dove out.
In a ferocious tackle, he knocked the kit to the ground and yanked him up by his tail. Hackles raised, he gave the kitsune rattle.
"Kagome! Kagome!" Shippou cried, arms flailing toward the girl who sat stunned on the stoop.
Kagome brought a hand to her mouth for half a second before she reached out for Kouga.
"Kouga, stop please."
The wolf-prince refused to drop the kitsune but stopped rattling him.
"Little brat was spying on us!"
"Kagome! He's worse than Inuyasha!" Shippou kept sobbing, fist sized tears dripping down his face.
Kagome reached her hands out for him, pulling him free of Kouga's grasp and into her lap. Shippou immediately dug his face into her chest, wrapping his hands into her shirt as he cried.
"It's okay Kouga, just give me a moment."
Kagome let out a sigh. Naturally, the terror of her secret being out gave her heart a jolt. But fatigue kept tugging at her. She dug her fingers into his fur and gently tugged him, trying to free his face from her shirt.
"Shippou, we aren't mad." Her voice barely carried over the wailing. She kept trying to focus on rhythmically stroking his back and sent one last pleading look toward Kouga.
It took a few minutes until the tiny kit pulled his face away, wiping his eyes with his paws, and blinking.
"Kagome I'm sowwy. I just wanted to see what you were doing!"
"I know Shippou, it's okay!" She kept brushing his warm fur.
Kouga gave a soft growl and reluctantly sat down next to her. His tail folded around his abdomen and he crossed his arms. The stupid fox set off his instincts and left his adrenaline burning in his veins. Not to mention he interrupted his moment with Kagome. In his mind, that was enough to eat the squirt or at least throw him somewhere.
Kagome finally coaxed the fox to relax a bit. He still stayed close to her shirt, but looked around anxiously.
"What are you guys doing out here? I wanted to make sure you were okay Okaa-san."
Kagome cringed a bit. Of course, Shippou overheard it all. She could just tell by the way he was looking wide-eyed at them. But then, he was probably too afraid of Kouga to voice it.
"Kagome?" He tentatively asked again, reaching out to touch her face.
She caught his tiny paw.
"Shippou, I'm not mad at you coming out here to find me. But you think you can avoid telling anyone what you saw?"
"You don't even want Sango to know?"
"I don't want Inuyasha to know. He's going to pick up on it if everyone else knows." She sighed.
He'd probably find out from the loudmouth kit, even if Shippou didn't mention it intentionally. While Shipppou was a loyal friend, he didn't usually think much before he started to talk.
"Why do you like Kouga now Kagome? When did this happen?" He kept up the inquisitive questions.
The flush lightly returned to her cheeks but she shook it off.
"Just recently, Shippou please. Please promise me you won't mention it again." She tried more directly, just glimpsing at Kouga for a half second.
The fox pouted for a second and folded his arms. He hummed for a second, and nodded.
"I will Kagome."
She gave a weak smile, but the kit kept talking.
"But you know, chocolate would make me forget easier."
She leaned forward to rest her forehead on her knees, almost crushing the kit in her lap. Kouga immediately reached out to her but she shook her head.
Kagome could already picture the dominos beginning to fall.
