A/N: So, you guys seemed to like that I brought Kagome back in the last chapter. So I'll continue with that story arch a bit. You'll still have to wait and see where my mind takes things!
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Chapter 12: Inuyasha's Dreams; Tamako's Confession
Inuyasha had searched around that village for Kagome, with no luck. They had already been there longer than they ever thought they would be, their original destination a thing forgotten. He wanted to see her face again, one more time. Even after the villagers grew tired of their presence, he kept there, hoping to pick up a trail of their scent. But, it was no use. They were just gone. Had this been what Kagome wanted him to save her from?
Finally, after a week of staying in the village looking for her scent trail, Inuyasha had agreed to take Tamako home. There was nothing that could be done there, and he could not pick up Kagome's scent anywhere, or even the scent of that Ryura. Just the idea of that demon made his blood boil.
The days they traveled back to their village had been done in relative silence, even Tamako seemed to not have much to say throughout the journey.
It was pretty dark by the time they arrived back at the village. They'd been so close that he hadn't wanted to stop. He wanted Tamako to sleep in her own bed for the night. While as much as he wanted to run around the countryside looking for Kagome, he had a pup to take care of, and she had to come first. It didn't seem to him like Ryura was going to kill Kagome anytime soon.
His senses were in a daze as he walked back to the hut, carrying Tamako on his back. She was fast asleep against his back, her head resting on his shoulder as he carried her the way he used to carry Kagome. It was just like carrying a smaller Kagome on his back. And, he wasn't really paying attention to any of the smells or senses he got throughout the village. He even walked right past Miroku and Sango's hut without saying as much as two words to the couple like he usually would have.
Once he got to the hut though, he blinked and looked up at the sight of a very angry Kouga coming from within the hut.
Kouga shoved the door to one side once he smelled their scents get close, walking out and glaring at Inuyasha. "What the hell, mutt?! I was worried sick. I was about to go after you. That monk and demon slayer convinced me otherwise." he said with a low growl, looking from him to Tamako's sleeping form on his back.
"Keh, shut the hell up Kouga, I am in no mood to deal with you. Besides, what are you doing inside my hut? And what business is it of yours that I take my daughter on a trip?"
"It was only supposed to be a week, mutt! You were gone for two weeks. She could have been killed in that time!"
"And why the hell do you care?"
The question caught the wolf demon off guard. Why did he care? "Well...well...I...that is, that kid could have been hurt!" he tried to say.
Shaking his head, Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Right, like I'd let anything hurt her. Out of the way, wolf." he said, pushing past Kouga and towards the hut.
"HEY!" Kouga yelled, glaring at him. "Don't you push past me!"
All the noise was starting to make Tamako shift in her sleep, whining softly. "Okaa..." she whined in her sleep, her arms circling her fathers neck a bit more, her fingers gripping his haori.
Inuyasha glared at Kouga slowly. "Keep your voice down. She's asleep. Let her sleep. I'll deal with you once she's in bed." he said.
Walking into the hut and moving to lay his daughter down on her futon carefully, trying his hardest not to wake her. Making her fingers let go of his haori before he brought up the blankets, covering her with them. Kissing the top of her head and whispering softly. "Sleep tight, princess."
And once he was certain he had her laid down, he walked back outside, Kouga still standing there. Moving his hands into his haori sleeves, glaring at the wolf. "Why do you care so much, anyway? What in the hell is with you, wolf? Why do you want to be around a kid?"
Kouga had watched Inuyasha go, and figured he'd let him. Tamako seemed to be very asleep. When Inuyasha came back out, he crossed his arms across his chest, looking away. "She's just...a cute kid is all. None of your damn business otherwise." he said. Glancing at Inuyasha's face, he blinked. "What happened while you were gone, anyway, mutt? Why were you late?"
Shaking his head, Inuyasha glared to him. "Well, know this, wolf. Tamako is my daughter, the only one I have. And you will do well to stay away from her and leave her be. Because, if you hurt her...I'll have your head." he said. He knew Tamako liked Kouga, and at first he didn't think Kouga liked her that much, until now. And he couldn't help it. Shaking his head to Kouga's other question. "That is none of your business. So I suggest you get the hell out of here. If you want to see Tamako soooo bad, you can see her tomorrow. She is asleep." he declared.
Kouga blinked a bit at Inuyasha's warning, scoffing a little as he looked away. "Why would I ever hurt her, huh? She's just a fucking kid, mutt." he said. That was a good question though, why did he care so much about that kids safety? Scoffing, he looked away. "I'll be back, muttface." he said before he took off.
Sighing as he saw Kouga run off, finally being done with before he entered the hut again, moving to take a seat against one of the walls, propping Tetsusaiga against his shoulder and closing his eyes.
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In his dreams, his mind instantly wandered to her, like it always did.
It was the same dream, but different at the same time. He was in darkness, attacked the pink line with his meido, and then came face to face with Kagome. Looking up at her slowly, blinking a little. "K-Kagome?" he asked.
Instead of her usual answer, he felt her arms quickly move around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. Slowly moving his arm around her waist, his fingers actually letting go of Tetsusaiga, letting it float there in space with them. His now free hand moved around her waist too, gripping the back of her school uniform. "Kagome.." he said softly.
Kagome leaned back, looking at Inuyasha's face slowly. "Inuyasha...save me." she whispered.
Shaking his head as he gripped her. "Not this again. You'll tell me whats going on. You've got to...please."
A sigh came from her lips as she leaned back from his grasp, hugging herself slowly and closing her eyes halfway, looking away. "You need to kill Ryura. I need you to do that, to set me free from him. Please Inuyasha..."
Moving to grab her arms and bring her closer to him, looking into her eyes. "You need me to kill him? I was going to kill him anyway. What has he done to you? How are you alive?"
Shaking her head slowly as she looked up at his face. "I cannot tell you exactly how. But...Ryura is not a good demon. He uses my spiritual powers to hurt people...to do things..." she said, hugging herself tightly even with his hands on her arms, her eyes looking away. "Kill him...set my soul free. Please?"
Listening to her words, Inuyasha held her arms gently, moving his fingers along them and looking at her face. "Why didn't you remember me then? And...if I kill him...will you be able to come back? To come and be with Tamako and me?"
Her chocolate eyes looked up into his golden ones as she shook her head. "Its my body he has. My spirit is locked away. That body of mine is like an empty shell, forget about that." she told him, biting her bottom lip and shrugging. "I...I don't know. I might die along with him. And I...I would almost be okay with that. Its better than the alternative." she said, turning her head away.
Inuyasha growled slowly. "I will not let you die! Tell me, what is it he's done to you?!" he asked.
Shaking her head as she pulled herself back, moving a little away from him and looking up at his face. "I can't. I have to go. Please, just do this for me. Set me free."
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When he woke up from that dream, it was much the same reaction as the others. Sitting up alert, covered in sweat, breathing hard. Looking around the hut slowly, seeing that it was just morning, he sighed. Moving his fingers to rub his eyes and run his fingers up into his bangs.
Were these dreams real? He wasn't sure. Maybe they were...maybe it was actually Kagome reaching out to him for help. But how would he even help her? Could he, knowing that she could die if he killed Ryura?
He was awakened from his thoughts by his daughter as she ran out of her room. Blinking, looking up at the girl. "Oi, pup, where do you think you're running off to?"
Tamako looked at her father and smiled sweetly. "Kouga-kun is here! I smell him. I'mma go play Otou!" she said happily.
Watching her, he sighed. "Don't you want some breakfast first?"
She shook her head to him, walking over and leaning to kiss his cheek. "No Otou, I'm fine. I'm not hungry. I'll see you later!" she said as she continued to run out.
Standing up, the older hanyou slipped tetsusaiga back into its place on the ties of his hakama before stepping outside just after his daughter, just in time to see Kouga.
Kouga knelt down as Tamako ran and nearly jumped into his arms. Laughing, he hugged her, looking at her face. "Hey there squirt. Miss me?"
She nodded to him. "Uh huh yeah Kouga-kun! I did!" she said happily, giggling a little.
"Oi, wolf...don't you go far with her. She is to be back in time for lunch, understood?" Inuyasha asked.
Kouga rolled his eyes. "Fine fine, whatever mutt."
The look on Tamako's face darkened as she frowned. "Kougaaaaa..." she said in a warning tone.
A sigh escaped the wolf demons lips as he rolled his eyes. "I mean, whatever, Inuyasha." he spat out.
Smiling, Tamako hugged him. "Good!"
The altercation made Inuyasha laugh a little. Tamako seemed to have the wolf whipped. It was almost funny. At least, it would be funny if it weren't Kouga. Why did his daughter have to have a crush on Kouga?
Kouga stood up, holding Tamako against his side as he flashed her a smile, starting to walk towards the river with her and walk along the bank. "So, how was your birthday trip?" he asked.
A small frown came to her lips as she looked down. "Weird.."
As he walked, he held her carefully, looking towards her face a little. "Weird how?"
"I saw my Okaa." she answered, looking up and meeting his cerulean eyes with hers. As soon as her eyes met his, she blushed and looked away a little.
"Waiiit wait wait, your okaa? Kagome? You saw her? Are you sure?" he asked.
Nodding a little, resting her head on his shoulder. "Yeah. She was with this weird man named Ryura. And she didn't recognize my Otou. It was weird. We stayed there for a while, otou looking for her...but he couldn't find her. I never did find out where we were originally supposed to go."
So thats why the mutts acting strange... Kouga thought.
"Can...dead people come back to life?" Tamako asked, her eyes once again looking up at him.
Kouga sighed and shrugged. "I don't know really. I've seen it happen, sort of. But usually, the dead people that come back to life aren't the same person they were before. Usually something is broken in them. Either someone is controlling them, or they don't really...feel things the way they used to. But I don't really know otherwise."
"Have you ever seen someone come back to life?"
Nodding, he answered her. "Yeah, once, sort of. Well I didn't see her come back to life, and I didn't know her before she died. Your father did. Kikyou. She was a priestess from this village years ago..." he started.
"Ohh! The priestess that pinned Otou to the Goshinboku?!"
Nodding again to her. "Yeah I think thats the one. But, some witch brought her back. From what I saw of her, she was really cold and emotionless...and she smelled like graves and bones. She wasn't really alive, but she wasn't really dead at the same time."
Listening to him, she pouted a little. "I don't think my Okaa is like that. She didn't smell like bones or dirt or anything. But she didn't recognize Otou..." she said, sighing and looking up at him. "Kouga...were you here waiting for me to come home?" she asked curiously. This morning she'd been able to smell his scent all around the hut, and it'd seemed like it was lingering.
He smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I got worried. Mu-...I mean, your dad...hadn't brought you home yet, and I was worried something happened."
She blushed at his admission, hugging him a bit more around his neck. "I missed you too, Kouga-kun." she whispered to him.
Kouga glanced at her. He wasn't completely sure how to deal with this child. He couldn't help but worry about her in a weird way. But, it wasn't really his job to protect her. Though somehow he felt like it was, that it indeed was his job to protect her and keep her safe from harm. And he had no idea what that'd meant. At first it was because she was Kagome's daughter, and he saw Kagome when he looked into the childs eyes. But now, he only saw Tamako. And the idea that Kagome was still alive did not cause him to run to her like it would have five years ago. After all, times had changed. Maybe he had gotten over Kagome a lot better than he thought he would have.
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It was a long walk that they'd taken, he'd taken her a bit farther down the river than usual and let her play in the water a little. It still wasn't the usual lunch time though, so he stayed with her by the water. Sitting on the bank, his legs outstretched and his feet just in the water, watching as Tamako ran around just in front of him.
Laughing when she splashed him, he shook his head. "Oohh no kiddo, you do not want to play this game!" he said, kicking his feet a little to splash her back.
She only giggled when the water hit her. Running up to him, she grabbed his hand. "Come onn, get in Kouga-kun!" she said happily, pulling and tugging on his fingers a little.
"Jeeze kid, how strong are you?" he teased as he stood up, stepping into the water after her. After he did, she pulled on his hand enough so he stumbled over just a little, falling into the water. At first he was angry, but looking up at her he just laughed, grabbing her and pulling her down more into the water with him. "If I'm getting soaked, you are too!" he declared.
Squealing, Tamako fell into the water after him, giggling. "Now my kimono's all wet!" she said, looking up at his face, smiling and splashing him.
They played like that for a while before Kouga was able to move to sit on the edge of the water again, this time both legs more into the water. Tamako moved up to crawl and sit next to him, moving her feet in the water and looking down at it. "K-Kougaa...can I ask you a question?"
Kouga blinked, looking over to her. "Must be serious if you have to ask first. Sure, go ahead."
"What are mates?" she asked, looking up at his face. She was still five after all, and she hadn't had 'the talk' with either her grandmother or her father yet. And she could just imagine her fathers reaction to such questions she had. And Sango was a human, so she wouldn't know anything about the things she was thinking about. Or at least, she didn't think Sango would. She knew Sango had once been a demon slayer...but how much did demon slayers know about demon lives if they were meant to kill them? And with both of them being eliminated, she thought Kouga would be the best to ask.
With the question though, it brought a blush to Kouga's cheeks as he shook his head. "Shouldn't you be asking your dad about things like that?"
Blushing herself, Tamako shook her head and looked down. "No. Last time I tried to talk to Otou about boys he flipped out and yelled." she said, kicking her feet in the water again, not at all mentioning that the boys she'd talked to her father about was him.
Chuckling a bit. "Sounds like him alright. Um...mates are...well, sort of like a marriage between demons. Some demon species mate for life, meaning they cannot be with anyone else. Some don't. It all depends on the species."
"What about wolves?" she asked, her blush deepening, keeping her eyes down on the water.
"Wolves? Well, we mate for life. You'd have to ask your dad about dogs."
Looking up at him, the deep blush still on her cheeks as she bit on her bottom lip. "Do you have a mate?"
He shook his head a little. "Nope, not yet. I haven't really thought about that in a while..." It was true Ayame still wanted to be his mate, but he still didn't see her that way. "Why you askin' 'bout wolves anyway?" he asked, looking at her curiously.
When his eyes looked at her, she blushed and turned away, shaking her head. "N-no reason."
Smiling a little at her. "Hey, you know I can smell you're nervous about something. Spit it out. Theres got to be a reason."
Shrugging a little, Tamako leaned her elbows on her knees, looking down in the water, sighing. "Just cause. I heard Otou call my Okaa his mate. And...and I wanted to know is all."
"Okay, that answers why you wanted to know about mates. But what about why wolf mates?"
Chewing on her bottom lip a little, shaking her head. "Just cause I wanted to know. Maybe its the same for dogs." she quickly made up.
The explanation made sense to him, so he nodded. "Well...you might wanna talk to your dad about it. Its his job to teach you all about mates and sex and stuff."
Nodding a bit. "Maybe. One day. I dunno." she answered, sighing. "I'm afraid he'll freak or something."
Laughing, Kouga nodded. "Probably. Usually, well, at least in my tribe, its the womans job to teach the pup what mates and sex are. At least, for female pups. My dad had that talk with me. But, demons are different than humans. Demons just sort of...know a lot sooner than humans do. Most humans don't start questioning for several years after demons...and humans don't really mature as fast." he explained, looking at her. "Seems to me, you're closer to demon track than human. I was asking that stuff when I was three. So not too much difference. Some wolf demons have already declared their mate by your age, and actually mate when they're about thirteen or fourteen."
Tamako kept her eyes on the water, almost afraid that Kouga would see her blush. "Declare their mate? Thats different than actually being mates?"
Kouga nodded again to her. "Oh yeah, of course it is. A male usually lays claim on a female first. It can be any number of months or years afterwards that they actually...act out upon that claim. But usually if a male claims a female, she's off limits to the other males. Unless they want a fight. If they want a fight, then the winner gets the woman."
"But what if she doesn't wanna be with him?"
"Well, she can still say no. We're not completely savage. A female has a right to refuse a claim...most don't though." he told her, looking over at her, smiling a bit. "Why? You got your eyes on a male you want to claim you?" he asked teasingly, not really expecting an answer.
"S-Sorta.." she stammered, chewing on her bottom lip.
Her answer shocked him as his eyes widened a bit, watching her even though he couldn't see her face. The answer almost sparked a pang of anger within him. But, he refused to get upset at her. "Oh...? Well...who is the lucky guy? Or do I need to kick his ass or something?"
Shaking her head quickly. "N-no...no you don't need to do that..." she said. Her heart was racing, she was sure. She was still a kid, how could she tell him something like that?
"Hm, must be some guy. You should tell me who he is and let me meet the boy. Is it a human or demon?"
"Demon..." she murmured softly.
"Hmm...you don't know many demons. Its not that...fox kid, is it?"
Shaking her head quickly, blushing deeper. "Shippou?! Nooo!" she said, looking up at him for the first time since she'd asked him about wolf mates, the blush deep on her cheeks.
Glancing at her, seeing that look on her face, in her eyes. It made him blush as he leaned back on his hands, looking off in front of him. "Oh..." he said, starting to sort of get it. "Um...what uh...kind of demon is it?"
Biting her bottom lip as she watched him, gulping a little at his question, trying to figure out how to answer it. "W-W-Wolf..." she stammered out.
Listening to her confirmed what he'd thought. Slowly looking back at her face and smiling a little bit. "Is it me?"
"Uh-huh.." she said as she nodded slowly.
Smiling to her, gently he sat up, bringing her to rest in his lap and hugging her so her back was against his chest, leaning his chin down on top of her shoulder. "Really? Well, I'm flattered, Tamako..." he said, looking down at her a little. "And, I'll tell you what. Maybe when you're older, if you still feel that way, I'll claim you as my mate." he told her.
Looking up at him, blinking, her eyes suddenly hopefully. "Y-You...you will?"
Nodding to her, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. "Yeah. If thats what you want when you're older." he said. Though, he remembered making a similar promise to Ayame when she was younger than Tamako, he meant it more with Tamako than he had Ayame. He only rescued Ayame once, and had said it to make the girl feel better. With Tamako, he'd spent so much time with her, he actually got to know her.
A smile was etched on her lips as she leaned against his back. "I'll always mean it, Kouga-kun!"
That made him nod a bit, looking at her face. "Then, you'll be my intended mate." he answered.
The answer made her turn in his lap to hug him tight which made him chuckle. "Have you told your dad about all this?"
Nodding a bit. "Yeah. Thats why he yelled. He got all mad. We had a fight that night. But its better now!"
Chuckling, Kouga held her softly. "I bet he was mad." he said.
Oh how mad Inuyasha would be when he learned of this conversation.
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A/N: Another chapter! :-). I really love the idea of Kouga with Tamako. How does everyone else feel about it? I got the idea sort of from thinking it'd be funny to have Inuyasha's only daughter fall for a guy that Inuyasha seriously hates. And, I drew inspiration from the Twilight movies with that idea sort of. {Dorky, I know, lmao.} But, the movie where Jacob was so in love with Bella, but it was really because she would carry his future mate Renesmee. Same idea, different story, different playthrough lol.