Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. And I do not intent to gain any kind of retribution for this work of fanfiction.

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The year of the dog

Ch. 2 Getting to know your dog.

Kagome's dog was weird, and she knew it.

It didn't take long for her to know, Yuki, was no ordinary dog. Her first encounter with him had happened as he threw up her birthday cake after somehow taking it out of the fridge.

The second thing that was remarkably strange happened after he woke up, Kagome took him twice a day on a small walk so he could do his business outside the house. It had always been a dream of hers to take her own dog on a walk, leisurely taking her time to give him the opportunity to relieve himself, but he never did.

By the third day she was really worried about her dog. He ate normally. Yeah, he refused to eat the food she had specially bought for him, and begged for her food... and she always caved. But it was worrisome to know that he ate and drank all day, but he never went to do his business when she was around. Kagome even started to move the furniture to be sure he wasn't using weird places she hadn't found. And she found nothing.

That worry made her take him to the vet... that was proving a difficult task.

If she didn't know better she would think that he understood what she was talking about during her phone call with Sango, because right after that he started to growl, still laying in his bed but with his eyes following her around.

When she tried to put the leash on him-something that she somehow knew he didn't like, though he just sat looking to the other side while she worked on his collar-but this time he had run to the leash first and had held it hostage as he ran around in a mixture of growling, wailing and whining. If she wasn't as worried as she was Kagome knew she would be recording this tantrum for posterity.

After some negotiation that included way too many cookies to say she won, at least she got the leash back.

That little pseudo-victory was eclipsed by the walk to the vet. Having a dog that weighed almost half as you, pulling you into the opposite direction you were trying to take him... and having him drag you through the street was both embarrassing and sad.

"Come on, Yuki! We need to get you to the vet! it's a quick visit!" She shouted to the dog that was determined to take them to the park.

When she stopped talking, he started to make sounds that reminded her of a person mumbling curse-words.

"I just want to know that nothing is wrong with you, Yuki!"

The dog started to slow his walk, still pulling but not dragging her anymore.

Kagome remembered something the vet had told her when she informed him she wanted to keep the injured stray. "We don't know what he went through. You'll need to be patient and nurturing, but firm."

With those words in mind she squared her shoulders, took a couple of steps faster to get closer to Yuki, immediately stopped with the most stable positions she could and pulled hard on the leash at the same time she shouted "halt!" when he didn't stop, at all.

As the leash was not anchored on a harness but on a collar, the dog ended up turned to the side with his neck strained. Kagome rapidly walked to her pet, being careful to grab on the line so he had no opportunity to gain momentum again.

She was grabbing his collar when she talked again with a clear and firm voice.

"We are going to the vet! Because they need to find out why you're not pooping! I will not let you get sick after everything we've been through to get you back to health. You will be a good boy and we will go back home soon!"

Her dog was looking away, with his neck craned in a weird angle to avoid her. But she knew she had his attention, his ears were pointed at her.

She didn't let go of the collar until they crossed the vet's door.

"My beautiful Kagome!"

The veterinarian said as soon as they crossed the door and something very weird happened to Yuki, his behavior changed as soon as he saw the vet.

After resisting all the way there, Inuyasha was grateful he was guilted into going to the vet. The man in front of him, the man that was actually not even looking at his canine form, and was staring with obvious interest at Kagome.

'Who the fuck cares what he's looking at? He's a fucking wolf youkai!'

Inuyasha was not aware of how his tail had started to swish in a big arc.

'Look at me you stupid wolf!' he screamed, which sounded like a desperate bark in the other's ears.

The man walked closer to them and Inuyasha jumped in his way. The man was so focused on Kagome that he only noticed Inuyasha when the dog barked because he was about to kicked.

This time, the way the youkai focused on Inuyasha was different. The intensity of his eyes made the hairs in Inuyasha's back stand. The gaze of the wolf youkai narrowed at him, and Inuyasha started to back down until he crashed into Kagome's legs. Something started to tickle his skin on his whole body.

Kagome kneeled beside him and started to stroke his back. "Kouga, whatever you're doing. Stop." Her voice was a curious mix of softness and steel, and immediately the tickle on his skin disappeared.

The man scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry my Kagome. For a moment I thought your dog had some kind of magical powers... But I think I was wrong."

With an easy smile, the man kneeled down too and stretched his hand with the obvious intention of rubbing some part of his head. Inuyasha automatically started to growl and moved to the side so he could be by Kagome.

"I don't think he wants you to touch him," Kagome said apologetically as she stood up but kept scratching between his ears soothingly.

"Your dog is really nervous... maybe he is traumatized," the youkai said with his eyes still on Inuyasha.

'The fuck I'm traumatized, you just flared your youki as if you were gonna attack me, asshole!' Inuyasha thought to himself.

"He has been acting normally at home. Or at least as I had expected of a dog. This is the first time he has shown aggression."

Inuyasha nodded at Kagome's defense. "I've been the perfect dog!"

"...but you are worried about something," Kouga commented.

"He hasn't pooped," was all the answer she gave.

And that made the man walk to Inuyasha again.

"He ate something that hasn't come out? He hasn't pooped today...?"

The wolf youkai started to ask at the same time he stretched a hand for Inuyasha to sniff, which of course he didn't do.

"He hasn't pooped... since he woke up. Three days ago."

"Alright... what is his name, Kagome?"

"Yuki."

Inuyasha huffed in annoyance Kouga smiled.

"He knows his name," the vet commented happily. "That means you chose well!"

The dog rolled his eyes.

"I'm gonna have to check his belly..." Kouga said stretching his hand even closer to the dog, making Inuyasha back down further.

"Come on Yuki, let me touch you... I don't wanna sedate you... come on..."

At the sound of the word "sedate" Inuyasha started to growl, and Kagome frowned.

'The fuck you're gonna drug me you stupid fleabag"

Her hand started to stroke him. "Come on Yuki, let him see if you have something wrong... please Yuki."

Inuyasha stopped growling, not because the woman was stroking him in a really pleasant way or because she was begging him to, but because he was an intelligent person and knew that letting himself be groped by that moron while awake was much better than letting the stupid wolf do whatever he wanted after drugging him.

The dog gave a couple of steps towards the man, but kept his head away from the vet's offending hand; instead, he rested his nuzzle on Kagome's thigh and put his furry torso closer to the wolf, making grumbling noises.

Kouga's hands started to push and poke around between his ribcage and hips.

Kagome felt her heart race inside her chest as she watched Kouga's face contort from professional confidence into confusion. She kept stroking Yuki's ears as Kouga checked the same spot for the third time.

"Does he eat normally?" Kouga asked with a frown forming in his face.

"Well... he has been eating, but not his own food. He begs for mine and... I give in."

The vet listened to her explanation in silence and it made her nervous. "But I always check if it's dangerous or not!" she added.

She had been trying to be a good and responsible owner just to explain her decisions poorly and make a fool of herself, or worse making him think that she was unfit to care for her Yuki.

Kouga started to stroke the dog, first on the back and slowly getting closer to his head. Kagome could feel that Yuki didn't like it because he started to push further into her lap, moving away from the man.

"Come on, big boy. I need to see your eyes and mouth. Are you sick? Are you feeling ill?" Still there was no change from the dog, except that now he was showing his fangs in something that was definitely not a smile.

"What if you tell me what you need and I help you? I think he doesn't want you that close to his head." Kagome said.

Kouga raised his hands in surrender and nodded, "Alright. Let's do it how he likes it."

The woman turned to the dog and softly stroked his ears. "Alright, baby. Let's do it, ok?"

She gave a quick glance towards the vet, "What do you need me to do?"

Kouga proceeded to give her some tips on how to show him Yuki's ears, eyes, nose, gums and teeth, but Kagome found the whole ordeal a little too easy. Yuki did not offer any kind of resistance. If Kagome didn't know better she would think that he knew what he needed to do and just had let her manhandle him for show.

After the exploration was finished, Kouga stood up again, "I didn't find anything abnormal in your dog, Kagome... and I mean he doesn't even smell sick."

"But I have been walking him. Twice a day. And he has not pooped once! And neither had done it at home..." She insisted with a worried voice.

Kouga smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Darling, sometimes dogs are really good at hiding things. If he is behaving normally and hasn't stopped eating... maybe he has a weird place to do his business... because I can tell you that I didn't feel any kind of abnormalities in his belly."

He was so confident in his explanation that Kagome forced herself to believe him.

"Alright, but if he starts doing something different I'll be back in a heartbeat."

Kouga smiled wider. "You can also call..."

She didn't even see from where he appeared a business card and handed it to her. Kagome read it and realized that it had three different phone numbers, one of them added with pen and on the back it said 'for Kagome'.

And after thanking him again, and paying for the consultation, Kagome and her dog were on their way to the park.

It was the first time Kagome took Yuki to a pet friendly park. Her dog was too big to run free in the small park close to their home, so she thought that a big space could be a good place to get him relaxed enough to explore if he had any kind of doggy training.

Once again, it did not go how Kagome had expected.

After they walked around for a few minutes, Kagome stopped and a couple of dogs came to say hello. She kneeled down and stroked them, and the moved their tails happily as they circled around them.

It was obvious that Yuki was not enjoying the moment. Adding dialogue to what her dog did had become some kind of weird and amusing hobby. At that very moment her akita was trying to keep the friendly dogs at bay, moving in circles trying to keep them away from his tail. That they tried to sniff.

'Don't you dare touch me there!' Kagome's inner voice kept yelling in her heard.

A new dog appeared but walked in such a way that remained unseen by Yuki and said hello by sticking his nose directly in Yuki's butt. And that gave Kagome the funniest thing she had seen him do.

Yuki first yipped in surprise at the same time he turned to bark at the new dog with his long fangs in full display. The new dog ran away, but Yuki didn't count on the rest of the dogs that finally had the opportunity to sniff his butt. When the rest of the dogs touched his privates, Yuki made a sound that was too close to a scared scream and just let his behind fall directly onto the ground. With his butt still on the ground, he contorted his body to scare the remaining dogs. He even dragged his butt across the ground when one of them was too set on playing with him.

Finally, Yuki glared at her as she laughed. There was no other way to describe the way he was looking at her. She didn't know that a dog could bare that expression. She heard him say in her head 'Don't you laugh at me! I hated it!'

She raised her hands and came closer to him, "Alright, Alright. I'll stop." She tried to touch him, but he huffed and dragged himself away from her. "Come here, Yuki."

It took a couple of tries more and somehow a couple of apologies for him to let her touch him. After that, Kagome crouched down before him, stretched her hand and said "paw."

The dog looked at her hand, then at her face and the only movement he did was a flick of his ears.

"No? What about... Leg." Another ear flicked. "Shake? Hi? Nothing?" she lowered her hand. "Roll? Stand? Nothing?"

Kagome was disappointed. After being around Yuki for those three days and after he had showed all these little fun quirks she was almost positive he was trained.

She raised her hand and stroked his head tenderly, scratching his ears and stroking the side of his head. "It's not your fault, Yuki... We will learn all these things together! You're awesome even if you don't know them yet, OK?!"

And for the first time, Yuki rested his head on her hand and licked her wrist. It was a simple and small gesture that meant the world to her.

They walked together to a bench nearby where she sat. Kagome expected him to roam close by, but he only plopped beside the bench, ignoring everything around them.

Inuyasha was too fucking tired... the only thing he wanted at that moment was to go home. But the woman was enjoying the 'park adventure.' He gave her a side glance. The woman had a warm smile as she looked around, then her eyes drifted to the treetops. Instead of following the direction of her stare, Inuyasha observed the way the shade and light that filtered through of the trees played on her face.

He was not aware of the moment he turned to her. He had found himself enthralled with the way her face seemed to change slightly, to glow with her own light. The peace that he felt at that moment, just by watching her was something he didn't believe possible in his situation. Suddenly her eyes found him and he jumped in surprise when her voice reached him.

"What happened, Yuki?"

Her hand reached down and stroked the side his face. His eyes closed at the tender touch. When her fingers reached his ears, his face leaned towards her.

She chuckled and he stopped cold when he noticed he had been licking her wrist.

"You're enjoying that, Yuki?"

It was obvious that she was enjoying it. She kept making questions and answering them as she put his leash back on and started to walk back home.

And the only thing he could think was 'what the fuck was that?'

He had never licked something like that, much less ever felt the need to lick SOMEONE!

The scenery on the way home, the scents of people around them and even the youki of people he used to know were completely ignored by Inuyasha as he tried to come to terms with himself licking people's hands.

It was so out of character that the only explanation he had for it was that it must have been the instincts that came with the stupid body he inhabited at the moment. Just like the impulse to bark at the door when someone that was not Kagome came close to it. Just like the need to lift his leg when he peed, need that he had been repressing successfully.

The fact that he had not even tried to stop himself from licking her, that he had not even realized what he was doing and went with the flow told him how dangerous that woman was.

Inuyasha tried to glare at the woman. Which was not easy as she was currently walking behind him. But he tried, he tried so hard that she stopped walking and asked, with an obnoxiously tender voice, "What, happened, Yuki? You want some sweets?"

His ears perked and he smiled... another reaction he couldn't stop.

She started walking to the street vendor and got something he couldn't identify but that smelled delicious. He started to salivate and he cursed again.

The woman took a delicious cookie-or-whatever-it-was and bit it. Then she lowered her hand with the rest of it and offered to him. With no hesitation he launched forward and took it from her, this time when he was licking her hand he told himself that it was because the cookie was sticky and not because of anything else.

She gave him a couple more sweets and she saved the rest for later. She caressed him again, and again, a stupid need to lean towards her touch was there.

They resumed their way home with him lost in his thoughts. Maybe if he had paid attention he would have realized that Kagome had not taken the leash off after getting home. He would also have noticed how she started to go back and forth to the bathroom. If he had been looking at what she was doing instead of just glaring at her and mumbling things, he would have guessed what she was planning, before it was too late.

Kagome smiled to herself as she looked at her dog, that had been strangely still since they went back home. He was still at the entrance, just staring at her. He had not moved, not even as she changed clothes and brought things to the bathroom.

Trying to be as natural as she could, Kagome took what was left of the snacks she bought on the way and walked to the bathroom, pretending to put one of them in her mouth. When she walked inside she said with her best chirpy voice:

"Do you want the last one, Yuki? Mmm, they are delicious"

Her smile became wider when she started to hear the sound of his paws on the floor. Soon, her magnificent white dog came to her. With his eyes focused on the last sweet, he took the last couple of steps she needed, and as he happily ate it she closed the door, trapping them both inside.

Her triumphant laugh made him stop licking her hand and she was able to realize the exact moment when he became aware that something was 'wrong.' His ears perked and then swiveled to the back of his head at the same time he started to walk to the entrance, only to growl when he found it closed.

She turned around to prepare the water temperature. By the time she took the showerhead and was ready to start, he had backed up to the farthest corner from her and he was growling.

"Come here, Yuki. Please come here... it's not gonna hurt."

She put her hand under the jets, "Look, doesn't hurt... it feels nice, very nice."

The closer she walked to him, the louder the growl became. After a couple of tries she finally managed to wet his paws, right before her dog pushed her to get away from the water.

Fifteen minutes later, Kagome was convinced Yuki was toying with her. Every time she thought he was letting her wash him, he would either shake the water off or run away in the exact moment she was trying to hold him and she would end on her knees.

"Yuki! This is enough!"

She could almost hear his laugh in her head. She was just as wet as her dog, and maybe she had more shampoo on her than the dog. Her back hurt and she had scraped her left hand during one of her falls. It was time to get serious.

Grabbing the leash, Kagome managed to pull him closer. She had let go of the shower, she wanted to scrub him clean. As soon as he was close enough, Kagome raised her leg and threw it over his body, as if she was riding a small horse. Without losing a second she tightened her hold on him and started to clean his fur.

It was clear that this new position was not welcomed. He had changed tactics too, instead of running he had started to shake and wiggle his body, trying to shake her off of him.

Kagome kept talking to him about how he was going to be clean and beautiful with a calm and sweet voice, just as she had read in the internet. It was not effective. She didn't know if it was because she sucked at it or because her dog was not listening to her.

She had finished with his neck and his chest. His back was half done when she got to his belly and it was as if she had pressed a snooze button, or maybe the off button. He became rigid and stopped moving.

Not knowing if he had surrendered to the shower or if he was waiting to make another move, Kagome washed his belly and his genitals as soon as she could. Something like a pained whine came to her ears but it was so low that she wondered if she had imagined it.

On one of the websites she had visited, it said that dogs sometimes hated to get their tails and genitals cleaned. But for Kagome it had been the easiest part of all.

He remained in that eerie stillness as she washed the shampoo off. He didn't even shake himself dry after she finished. But she should have known...

She turned the water off, hung the shower head on its hook and turned to him with a big smile and said "We are done, Yuki!"

The big ass dog looked at her directly in the eye, and smiled as he took two steps closer to her and shook the water off. He finished, looked at her, walked away a few steps and when she opened her mouth to say something he shook again.

By the fourth time, Kagome could swear he was doing it on purpose, there was something in Yuki's eyes that told her he was having fun.

He shook until there was no water left on his body.

"Alright! If you are done, let me get a towel to dry you."

He then sat down and waited until she had retrieved the towel and started to dry him. He kept his head high and away from her. If he was a human, she would think he was sulking... but dogs didn't do that, right?

The next thing was to blow dry him. It was almost funny how easy it was compared to the hell it had been to wash him. She almost felt like he was trying to ignore her. He didn't respond to commands, but she knew he didn't know any. He didn't move from his sitting position until she had to actually forced him to stand up.

Finally, her dog was cleaned and dry. His white fur looked amazing under the lights, it almost glowed. Yuki was a beautiful dog.

"We are finally done, Yuki!"

Without looking at her, Yuki pranced his way to the door and scratched it one time. She went there and opened the door. He walked away without another glance her way, looking incredibly regal in his way out.

The smile she didn't know she had disappeared as she looked around. Her bathroom was a complete mess. Hair had flown everywhere, her products were everywhere and they had stepped on a few of them. A tired sigh came out of her lips as she closed the door, and started to clean.

Inuyasha smirked, as much as he could in his current body as she heard her repeat her mantra for the umpteenth time that day.

"He's just a dog, he doesn't know what he was doing. You shouldn't get mad. He is just a very weird dog..." only to hear a "Come on, are you kidding me? How did it get there?! " shortly after.

He was curled up on his 'bed' when she came out of the hell room looking exhausted. It was nice to know she hadn't enjoyed it either. She might not have been touched in her privates but it was the best retribution he could get being in the stupid dog form.

Her eyes automatically found him and she smiled. "Now we are both clean!"

Inuyasha took a couple of sniffs, she had taken a shower too. After all the hair that had glued to her skin during his bath, she needed it.

"Now is time for some dinner".

Inuyasha pretended to sleep, refusing to let her know that he was paying attention to her, as she worked in the kitchen.

When she walked to him, he knew that she was bringing him food. It smelled like chicken, rice and veggies. It was not his favorite kind of food but it was acceptable, mouthwatering actually. The whole bathroom situation had tired him and he wanted to eat.

Saliva started to accumulate on his mouth as he pretended not to know she had placed his plate right before him. He even pretended not to hear her when she called him.

He wanted to make a point of how unimportant she was for him that even when she stroked his head and back commenting on how soft and beautiful he was, he didn't move. Well, except for the treacherous tail, he could never control that stupid part of him. But no other part of him moved! Not even when she walked away and after her own food.

Not even when she promised him another sweet. The hardest part had been when she placed the deliciously smelling sweet in front of him before going to her room.

Just after she had walked to her room and he heard her bed creak softly, he jolted to his feet and started to wolf down his food. He was almost done when he heard a chuckle coming from her room.

And there she was looking at him with stupidly tender eyes as he kept eating, ignoring her again. His stupid tail started to fan in a stupid way he could not stop because he was a stupid dog.

As he went back to his bed and curled up in a way that she could not see his face, he heard her say "good night, Yuki" and he couldn't help to raise his head and look at her smile as she walked back to her bed.

Inuyasha was positive, that woman was dangerous, very dangerous.

To be continued...

A/N:

Hello!

Thank you for reading!

This is the second chapter of this story, I hope this was an enjoyable reading.

I'm very happy that my last chapter of the year is from this story, just before starting the year of the dog.

Again, thank you very much for reading, and a special thanks to everyone that let me know what they think about it so far. Your comments always make my day.

Hope you have an incredible awesome 2018 :D

Love,

Nanna