Disclaimer: As said before, I don't own him...
A/N: As I promised! This chapter is ALL fluff and humor. The only moderately serious stuff is early on when IY talks to Sota about family and stuff...I've seen and heard people of our younger generation as well as the older people, burnt out and embittered, express negative feelings on relationships (or they simply bash the opposite gender about, or say having kids will just age you and give you a stroke/heartattack.) and I'm sick of it. So, in the spirit of monogamy, loyalty, companionship, and love (and I think Inuyasha and Kagome as characters support those things, I mean IY is loyal to Kikyo even after she's DEAD! And Kagome is willing to give Inuyasha her life without hesitation!) I wrote the conversation between Sota and Inuyasha. But don't get scared, it's not dark at all (grins) Hope you like it! Oh and after the talk with Sota...well...Inuyasha just deserved some action! I hope no one disagrees, if you do I apologize (whimpers)...Remember to review and tell me what you think! ALL comments and suggestions welcome and encouraged! With your help this story has broken 100 reviews already! YAYS! THANK YOU! On with the story...
Flirtatious Hanyous and Fanged Pups
Kagome woke when it was still dark outside. The first thing she did was reach across the empty space of her very small and narrow childhood bed torealize that Inuyasha's warmth and powerful, muscular body were absent. So was Koinu.
Worry immediately laced her thoughts and the young woman opened her eyes, blinking the sleep from them hurriedly, looking around. The dark room was quiet and still—she was really alone…
She sat up, ignoring the dizziness that followed her swift movement. She checked the side of her bed; to make sure Inuyasha hadn't just moved to the floor with Koinu to give her more room. He wasn't there.
Rising from the bed she wobbled a bit, and reached out to clutch at her nightstand for support. After a second or two she was stable and she started for the door. Just as she grabbed hold of the knob a dull clattering noise reached her ears, it sounded like it'd come from downstairs, in the kitchen she thought. A small smile took her face. That's where Inuyasha is I'll bet…
Pulling on a small robe before she opened the door, Kagome left her room as quietly as possible and descended the stairs. As she drew nearer to the kitchen se could hear voices quietly whispering. She paused right before the doorway, straining to listen to the conversation that was going on at the table. By the sounds she knew that Inuyasha had taken Koinu with him, which eased any worry she had for their pup. Koinu's soft squeals and baby noises assured her that he was happy. Above the pup's sounds she could hear Sota and Inuyasha talking quietly…she grinned when she realized that they were having a "Guy talk," session. Intrigued, she stayed where she was, hidden, listening.
"Were you scared, Inuyasha?" Sota asked, timidly. He was looking his brother-in-law carefully in the eye, awaiting the hanyou's answer.
Inuyasha's ears twittered; he was caught between playing with Koinu, slurping up his Ramen, and talking to his wife's little brother. "What?" he snorted, not looking to Sota's demandingly curiousgaze, "Why would I be scared? And anyway, how am I supposed to answer you when I don't even know what you're talking about exactly…"
Ten minutes prior to this conversation the hanyou had woken up beside Kagome with Koinu squirming restlessly on his chest, bored and looking to play. The pup's sleeping schedule had always been a little strange. Inuyasha had normally been able to get up, when they were at home at the estate, and play with Koinu until he was tired again—it didn't bother the hanyou considering that he needed less sleep than normal mortals. But here, at the Higurashi residence, he had to be careful to avoid waking Kagome or her mother or her brother, or her grandfather…so he'd taken Koinu out to the kitchen and beenabout to makehimself some Ramen—and he'd discovered Sota. Taking advantage of the youth, Inuyasha had asked for Sota to make him that Ramen as a midnight snack, and he'd been chatting with the kid and entertaining Koinu at the same time ever since.
Sota sighed loudly, biting his lip as he struggled to rephrase his question, "Were you scared that Kagome would die when Koinu was born?" Inuyasha looked up sharply at Sota, his amber eyes unreadable. The expression made Sota so nervous that he started stuttering more random information, still staring the hanyou in the eye the whole time, almost terrified. "Because, you know Mom was really scared. The last time that she saw Kagome was in that last trip to the doctor…the one where the doctor was able to look underneath her skin to see how the baby was doing? That's called a sonogram or ultrasound you know, I saw a show on it once. And Mom was certain that the baby would be born really soon, and when you guys didn't come back to visit for more than a month she was really starting to worry, so I mean, was it scary? Was Kagome sick at all afterwards? What took so long to—"
Inuyasha tickled Koinu, making the pup squeal happily and squirm, kicking his little bare feet this way and that as Inuyasha finally began to answer Sota's barrage of questions. "I was…" he frowned, "Worried about her. I didn't think about it too much…" he looked as if there might've been more to say, but he couldn't bring himself to finish it. Instead he frowned and reached for his Ramen bowl, slurping it while Koinu giggled babyishly and reached for his father's arms, trying to get him to tickle him a little more.
"And…" Sota hesitated only a moment before plunging into his next important line of questioning, "What's it like…"
Inuyasha glared briefly at Sota from over the rim of the Ramen bowl. He set it down a second later and sighed, irritated. "Sota, what is it now? You need to be clearer if you're going to ask me these things…"
"You know…being married…being a dad now…"
Inuyasha cringed as if he'd been slapped. "When it happens to you, then you'll know." he answered shortly, turning his attention to the pup again, who was trying to reach for Inuyasha's bowl of Ramen, which was just a tiny bit too far away from his little chubby arms and tiny clawed hands. Even so the pup reached and mumbled in his baby talk—he sounded as if he were chewing on his tongue. Inuyasha scooped up the infant before he could get any closer to the Ramen. That didn't please the baby.
Over the pup's whimpering cries, Sota tried to get his question answered a second time. "But Inuyasha…I want to know if it's worth it, you know…" he swallowed nervously, "See, in high school and now in college there are lots of couples, men and women living together but not married…"
Inuyasha looked up, "You mean human mates?" he asked, intrigued.
Sota blinked, confused, "I guess so…"
"I thought," Inuyasha began, scowling, "That humans only took each other in official titles—marriage, husband and wife…in my time the villagers kill anyone that takes another just as a mate, when did that change?" he'd always made special attempts—especially early in his relationship with Kagome—to hide their involvement with each other, not only from her family but from others of his own time. True, for several years he and she had been attracted to each other, which was something that both had worked to hide out of adolescent embarrassment. Yet over time, as the hanyou realized that his feelings for Kikyo had vanished, he'd been faced with the gut-wrenching realization that he loved Kagome, and she felt the same way. But, seeing as they were so different, it seemed like an impossible arrangement. He'd been under the impression that if her grandfather found out that they were more than friends—even that he just thought of her romantically—then Kagome might be punished, even harmed for it…thus years passed before he was certain he could ask for her to be something more to him.
And now here he was learning that in Kagome's era men and women could mate each other as demons did, without being cursed or punished for it as they were in his time! How many years had he wasted not dating Kagome then? How long had she yearned for him to mate her while he'd kept his distance, thinking that he was respecting her human traditions? (A/N: It's just gotta KILL him!)
Sota cleared his throat uncertainly and said, "Inuyasha…in 500 years a lot of things changed…I mean a few of my friends are already parents! None of them are married!"
Now Inuyasha was stunned. "WHAT!"
Sota blinked in surprise and nervousness and Koinu started crying fussily at his father's loud outburst. "Inuyasha…uh…it's no big deal…"
The hanyou grumbled to himself and turned his amber eyes, and attention, to calming Koinu down. After several minutes the baby wasquiet again, pulling on his father's silver hair innocently, shoving the strands into his mouth and sucking on the ends. Inuyasha looked thoroughly unhappy at this but he didn't dare tryto stop it.
Sota, who still hadn't had his question answered, cleared his throat again and tried once more, "But…see, Inuyasha, the people I talk to all think that marriage is bad. They think that it doesn't work. They think it makes people unhappy. And…" he sighed, frustrated and nervous, the hanyou wasn't looking at him, "And all my friends…none of them want to be parents because they think it just gives you gray hairs…"
The hanyou growled and grumbled at Sota under his breath while he tried to get Koinu to let go of his hair, "Sota it sounds like your era is messed up to me. If everyone your age feels that way then there won't be many people left in Japan by the time Koinu grows up."
Sota frowned, "No Inuyasha, I mean, you're still not answering me! Is it worth it? Does it make you feel good to be married to my sister? Does it make you proud to have a baby? Does it make you happy?"
Koinu let go of his father's hair and whimpered for a moment before he took hold of his feet instead and brought them toward his mouth, trying to suckle on his own toes. When he'd succeeded in this, the pup's eyes closed contentedly and he made a purring sound, a deep rumble of pleasure. Atop his little silver-hairedhead the baby's dog-ears twitched. Inuyasha wanted to laugh at the pup for that, but he restrained his own outburst and looked up at Sota, forcing a stern expression to etch itself there.
"Look Sota—don't listen to them. Are they married? Do they have pups?"
Sota shook his head quickly, "No, they just say that that's what they've heard is true."
"Well tell them to quite talking about what they know nothing about." He huffed resolutely, and then, looking to the pup, who seemed to be growing sleepy again, he announced, "I think I'm going to go back up and sleep a little more…good luck with things kid." He started to get to his feet, carefully making sure not to stir Koinu too much as he moved, but Sota called his name and stopped him.
"Inuyasha."
"What?"
"You're happy, right?" Sota's eyes were large and pleading. The hanyou sighed staring at them, wondering if the kid secretly liked torturing him by trying to force him to expose his inner emotions.
"Yes Sota, I am." He glanced to Koinu briefly, fighting the gentle sensation of awe and peace that was flowing through him. The pup looked so much like him that it was almost unnerving at times…the only other person who'd ever made the hanyou feel like that was Sesshomaru, and it had always been a negative feeling then, a knowledge that his brother knew his secrets, his weaknesses, his very soul, simply because they shared their father's blood. Looking at Koinu the emotion was different…comforting, peaceful, calming…the pup's tiny claws, silver hair, strong grip and even the blasted dog-ears, all filled him with a pride he'd never felt before, never experienced.
As if reading his mind Sota grinned and announced, "I really do think he's absolutely adorable…the cutest, sweetest, and funniest little thing since…" Inuyasha's amber eyes flew to Sota, and they were no longer soft and full of pride. Sota panicked and immediately changed his tune, "Since Genghis Kahn. He's a born killer your pup is!"
Inuyasha eyed Sota for a moment and then snorted a single, "Feh." He turned and started to head out of the kitchen, "Nice chatting with you Sota…Take care of my bowl of Ramen, would ya? I'm going to sleep…" as he walked out of the room toward the stairs a grin broke out over his face as he finished the rest of that sentence inside his head, Yes, going to sleep with your sister Sota…
As he walked up the stairs his acute hearing picked up the sound of creaking, and he looked up just in time to see the door to Kagome's room creep shut. His ears flattened against the top of his head and something, a cross between a smirk and a scowl, snuck over his face. "You little sneak…" he whispered to himself and hurried over the last few steps, careful to avoid jarring the pup as he went. When he entered the room he did it as quietly as possible, noted that Kagome was pretending to be asleep innocently, and closed the door firmly behind him, latching it.
He crossed to her closet carefully and pulled out a spare blanket. Fastidiously the hanyou arranged the blankets into a second bed on the floor parallel to Kagome's, and laid the pup there gently. He watched over Koinu for several lingering minutes, making sure that the pup was content and sleepy again. To be thorough he even leaned in close to his now sleeping son and sniffed him…no dirtied underpants thankfully, and no scent of hunger yet…the pup was satisfied and without care…which meant he could make his move.
Cautiously Inuyasha left the pup where he was, dozing happily, his fingers and toes beginning to twitch with the beginnings of a dream, and crawled onto the bed next to Kagome. He did it furtively, as if he were trying to avoid waking her—but he could tell from her heartbeat and her breathing that she wasn't really asleep—only pretending. Just when he should've snuggled in close to her to resume sleeping, as he'd told Sota he would, Inuyasha shifted his position so that he was directly over Kagome's body, straddling her from head to foot. He rolled her with one hand from her side to her back so that she was facing him and buried his nose into the crook of her neck, inhaling her delicious scent hungrily.
"I know you're not sleeping, wench…" he growled into her skin.
Kagome's eyes snapped open in shock. "Inuyasha…" she shuddered when she felt the moisture and the sharp pressure from his fangs on her neck. It'd been a long time since either had engaged the other so physically—becoming parents had been a busy event, leaving both tired and distracted. Of course Inuyasha had been deprived for what he felt was a long time, and that left him hungry…especially when he'd realized, while talking with Sota, that his hesitation with Kagome for years in the past, when he'd wanted her so badly but felt he couldn't have her, had been unnecessary, well, it just about drove him crazy…
She felt one of his hands slip under her nightshirt. She shivered at the chilled touch and suddenly found that it was a lot harder for her to breathe…One clawed hand ran through the valley between her breasts, tickling, and at her neck the nips and kisses were planted at places the hanyou knew drove her wild. Part of her reeled at the thought of where this was going—what if her grandfather heard them? The other bedrooms weren't that far away, and with how enthusiastically Inuyasha was attacking her, she suspected they wouldn't be exactly quiet…and Koinu! What about him?
"Inuyasha!" she tried to scold him, tried to get his attention, but hearing her own voice she realized, with a little of a jolt, that she sounded more as if she were cheering him on. And certainly that's what Inuyasha seemed to think she was doing—the hanyou's lips left her neck then and came to her lips, smothering her words and protestations for a moment. When his tongue slipped into her mouth she almost laughed against his lips—she could taste his Ramen snack still! (A/N: Haha! That's happened to me! Except then it was Cherry Coke! Has anyone else had that happen? It seems like it should be REALLY gross but actually I thought it was quite the opposite...(snickers))
His hands were digging within her nightshirt, unbuttoning it. Asone of thebuttons further downcame undone and exposed more flesh, Inuyasha abandoned her lips to tease the new skin. She could speak again!
"Inuyasha," she breathed, trying to steady her voice and rid it of any desire—that was a lost cause! "What about Koinu? We can't do this now!" but her voice shook and wavered—his busy hands had unfastened the whole nightshirt and now the hanyou's fangs were currently nipping some very sensitive anatomy. (A/N: Gasp!)
But Inuyasha was listening to her. He moved to her lips again, kissing her fiercely for a moment before pulling away, amber eyes gleaming as if on fire, "He's asleep, he won't mind."
"He's too young to be exposed to this!"
Inuyasha snorted, smirking at her, and leaned down to sample her luscious smell some more, "Honestly, Kagome," he whispered into her skin, "Do you remember being six months old? Do you remember being a year old?"
She didn't have to reply; they both knew the answer, but Kagome wasn't ready to give in just yet. "What about my family? Do you really want to risk—"
"You humans have such poor hearing…" her hanyou snorted, straight into her ear, his hot breath made her whole body shudder. He started to nibble her earlobe, slowly, sensually. Kagome melted—how could she resist? She'd have to be dead not to respond!
With a moan she gave in and reached up to struggle with the hanyou's shirt, looking for skin of her own to tease…
A high, plaintive whimpering pierced the stillness of the room. Kagome blinked sleepily for a moment, confused. Where was she? In a second she remembered: her old room! One of her hands fumbled through the sheets and came across something warm and fleshy, she could feel rippling muscle underneath. A smile slid across her face, Inuyasha…
But the sound…it wasn't her hanyou making those cries…Koinu!
She sat up swiftly and fumbled, reaching to where, hours before, Inuyasha had made a quaint bed for the pup before he'd sprung his trap on the unsuspecting but far from reluctant Kagome. Koinu was lying on his back, squirming unhappily, histiny fists balled up, little face twisted and covered with baby tears. Kagome picked him up hurriedly, holding him close to her, letting him take in her comforting scent while at the same time she checked to make sure he hadn't used his underpants as a bathroom, as babies are apt to do of course…but Koinu was clean—so comfort wasn't his problem.
Inuyasha stirred beside her then. She didn't look away from their son to watch him wake—she didn't need to, one of the hanyou's legs was entangled with her own and when his muscles moved against hers she felt his every motion.
He shuddered awake against her, "What?" he mumbled sleepily. Of course, as he was so tired and newly awakened, the words came out sounding more like, 'Wuh,' then fully formed as 'What.'
"Koinu's awake…" she whispered back at him. Even through the baby's squalls she knew Inuyasha would pick out her words—just because her quiet voice was so vastly different from the baby's screams.
"I hear." He muttered, and then she felt his leg move against hers, the hanyou was shifting positions. In a second he was sitting up beside her, amber eyes blinking sleepily, working to focus. When she looked in his direction, away from the squalling Koinu, she noted that Inuyasha's chest was bare and colored golden, a very sexy slice of perfection…she couldn't hold back the smirk as she realized that the careless hanyou hadn't bothered to dress himself after their earlier adventures…
"Good morning." She smiled mischievously at him.
Inuyasha seemed too groggy to appreciate or even respond to her greeting; instead he inhaled sharply once, blinked confusedly, and announced, "The pup is hungry."
"Oh…" she realized, staring at her husband, that Koinu must've chosen to wake him at a time when he'd been deeply sleeping, a thing he did so rarely—and yet, she suspected, needed a lot more than he let on…she reached out to him and patted his bare, well-muscled shoulder, and grinned when she saw his ears twitch reflexively, "Inuyasha, you sleep, I'll feed Koinu and take care of him, okay?" besides, she thought, he was probably too groggy to realize that he was naked. If she let him comfort Koinu after she'd fed him as he liked to do to allow her some extra sleep, he'd probably stroll through her kitchen lacking a single article of clothing. Kagome couldn't begin to imagine what her grandfather would say about that!
The hanyou's ears fell flat on his head, drooping. Sluggishly he nodded and his eyelids sank. But his words contradicted what his body screamed, "Are you sure? I could take him for…" but she waved her free hand to shush him and pushed him back toward the pillows.
"Sleep Inuyasha! Don't make me say "it," to get you to obey…"
From the pillows, where the hanyou's face was now smashed harmlessly, quickly falling back into unconsciousness, there came only one muttered, barely intelligible word: "Feh."
Kagome chuckled tiredly for a moment and then rose from the bed, Koinu still crying, though weakly now, in her arms, and slipped on a robe. A moment later she left the room, but not before checking the clock on her nightstand, which clearly read ten o'clock. Just outside her room she heard her mother and grandfather bantering about the weather amiably and sighed with relief. She headed toward the stairs.
"Mom?" Kagome's voice queried hesitantly, as she descended the steps.
"Kagome? You're up!" it wasn't really a question, as the answer was obvious—who else would be traveling toward the kitchen with a howling infant in the Higurashi residence? "I thought that that little puppy would get hungry!" Mrs. Higurashi laughed, and as Kagome reached the bottom of the stairs she saw her mother appear with a bottle of formula already made up. "I have it heated just right I think!" she exclaimed.
Kagome was grateful—Koinu was bound to start teething very soon, and she dreaded the thought of breastfeeding him once his fangs came in…and she assumed there would be fangs, considering who his father clearly was. She'd come to silently worship Inuyasha's mother despite the fact that she'd never known the woman—after all, in the Feudal Era Lady Izayoi would've had no choice but to use what nature had given her to keep Inuyasha fed as a pup, whether he had terrible little fangs or not.
She took the bottle from her mother and gently tried to coax Koinu into taking the bottle's nipple into his little unhappy, crying and puckered mouth, but the baby was stubborn. His crying and whimpering rose in intensity as the nipple was pushed at his unwilling mouth. Couldn't they see he wanted the real thing?
Kagome looked up at her mother confusedly. "I don't understand." She frowned, "He took a bottle yesterday! What's different about it today?"
Mrs. Higurashi sighed; her hands went to her hips. "Well…babies can get this way…once they've had the breast they don't want formula."
Determinedly, Kagome tried to push the nipple into Koinu's mouth a second time but the baby, still screaming as if the women were trying to strangle him rather than trying to feed him, turned his little face away. The tears were streaming down his angry face…Kagome pursed her lips and looked to her mother worriedly. "What now?"
"Try again…"
Kagome teased the pup's chin and lower lip with the nipple; let a bead of the milk spill onto his tongue. When she pushed the nipple into his mouth, praying for success, the pup whimpered uncertainly for a moment and then closed his lips over the structure. For a moment he appeared to have accepted his fate, but then his blue eyes found his mother's face, lingered for a moment, and as if to spite her relief, he tried to spit the nipple from his mouth. The crying and screaming began again, the waterworks resumed.
Frustrated, Kagome gave up and pulled the bottle away from her son. Looking to Mrs. Higurashi she waited for further instruction. What her mother had to say wasn't what she wanted to hear though.
Sighing, Mrs. Higurashi threw up her hands in defeat, "You'll have to breastfeed him for now…later he might be less picky, but at this moment he's bent on having things his way…" she chuckled then, "Sounds a little like his father…"
Kagome forced a smile at her mother's observation, but inwardly she was thinking of his father's fangs, the way they glinted brightly in the light when he laughed or yelled or smiled, the way they nicked her flesh like razors if the hanyou wasn't careful with her delicate skin…if the pup grew too strong too fast, and teethed before she could wean him to a bottle or a solid diet, he'd end up trying to chew her breasts right off her!
Oh crap…
Endnotes: Kiante A new face here! You read and reviewed "Hanyou's Ending" for me, THANK YOU! I hope to see more of you in the reviews for this sequel (or at least that you read this and know that I didn't forget you!), cool-chick-rae THANK YOU! For all your dedication, you're there reading and reviewing both of my current stories and have been for some time! THANK YOU, fanfiction1 you're using your head most definately! I'll let you keep thinking that, I won't tell you whether it's along the right lines or not just yet...(grins)...Mad-4-Manga whoa! it's okay! Sleep! I know what it's like to be exhausted, and don't worry, if you don't review, although it IS good hearing from you! Okay, was this fluff good for you? (grins) I know I liked it. Actually, come to think of it, I didn't know about breastfeeding and collick (spelling?) I know about the condition itselfI was a breastfed baby, as were all my siblings, and I was exceptionally collicky I'm told. I'm inclined to say that I'd think it'd be better than formula but considering that I was breastfed and I DID have a lot of collick I can't dispute it. I learn something new everyday! Thank you! As for the paw-print maker, we shall meet him later... SerenaClearwater Oh Oh! I wanna hear your opinion! Seriously I do! I'm only half-decided on what I want it to be...I THINK I know but your ideas and input are still welcome indeed! Oh, and I got your fluff! (grins!), heather, Yes, but my "hentai" borders on simply ridiculous, he was trying to make me fawn on him and compete with these two girls that were both five years or more younger than me. I mean he just wanted me to degrade myself so that he could derive some sick pleasure out of it...so I ignored him instead. (grins) Silvercrystal I plan to answer those confusions later, yes, but if I should miss something feel free to ask!(nods eagerly) yeahmiroku anothernew face! Welcome! Thanks for reviewing "Hanyou's Ending" hope to see you reviewing this story soon too! lady kjerston of the western Thank you! I was trying to paint her that way, she's like Inutaisho and Sesshomaru b/c she needs to be a ruler, but unlike them she's a mother...that determination and such will be very important later...Good hearing from you! NefCanuck Yes, as a matter of fact that's what I'm writing right now, er, whenever I have time! It's been VERY funny so far, though it will be less funny once he actually meets Taikokajin... The Moonless Night THANK YOU! I was SO happy to read your comment that I went back and reread it...I made him less stone-cold and arrogant. He's got more family to live up tohe lives by his mother's rules rather than in a father's shadow. Taigo It might've just felt long because there was only plot development and no fluff...I'm sorry for that, everything should be in moderation and without any Kag/IY it was a tad harder to read...well live and learn eh?
Thatt's it for me! Next chapter is: The Hungry Wolf in which we meet the maker of last chapter's five-toed paw-print...is he/she/it bad or good or what? Hmm...? hehe...review and tell me kay? Until next time!