Beta: Cstorm86

The Miko Thinks Out Loud

Kagome heaved a long suffering sigh and then took a few deep breaths to take in the serenity of Inuyasha's Forest, She quickly entered the welcoming serenity of the woods, carefully carrying a lidded pot.

The past hour had been pure hell.

Not only had her friends been pestering her for details on her 'secret relationship', but her mother and grandfather - upon being told the news - had been teasing her mercilessly at the breakfast.

The only good thing had been that Inuyasha had been absent to hear all that. She didn't dare to imagine what it'd be like to survive breakfast with the shrine guardian right there.

"The lengths I go to save your fuzzy ears," she thought as she entered the meadow. She was there to bring Inuyasha his promised ramen - all three cups poured into a pot for easier transportation. She still wasn't sure her hasty confession would really help to keep the girls away from the hanyou. But she hoped it'd be enough and that the skittish boy would not be assaulted by them trying to get to know him better. They would never try to hit on her boyfriend, it wouldn't be right.

But a part of her still yelled at her for calling Inuyasha her boyfriend. They barely knew each other and the boy was probably thinking she was nuts!

"Inuyasha?" she called out in the dappled sunlight of the greens and browns of the forest. The glen looked so otherworldly, so peaceful, she felt better by just breathing the fragrant air smelling of plants and earth. She wasted a moment to just soak in the atmosphere and felt as if the tiredness and tension were washing off of her. For a second she found inner peace, leaving the worries and uncertainties away.

'Here,' the great canine walked out from behind a thick tree, he approached her slowly stepping between the little flowers scattered in the grass and leaves that made up the floor of the meadow. His nose twitched towards the pot in her hands and his long tail wagged, flattening plants as it swayed side to side. 'Food!'

Kagome giggled and nodded, then walked to the foot of the Sacred Tree where she sat the pot on the ground and lifted the lid. The huge canine head nudged her aside, almost knocking her off of her feet. She stumbled and then sat down on a convenient root, that she often used as a stool. It was somewhat easier to talk to him without blushing madly when he was in his canine form and she wondered if it was easier for him as well.

"I take it you like it?" she asked. It was just instant ramen, but she added some extra ingredients like sausage slices and boiled egg to make it taste less artificial. One ear twitched her way, but he didn't pull his muzzle out of the pot, his tongue swiping noodles into his maw.

'Keh,' was it just her imagination or was his body smaller than a minute before? She frowned and looked at his form, low on wide spread massive paws, tail relaxed and on the ground. Yes, he had shrank, that greedy dog.

'Is it so it's easier to put your nose in the pot?' she wondered. 'You know, you could change, I have chopsticks...'

'Keep 'em.' the canine lifted his head to look at her, chewing on the mouthful of noodles. 'Your brother is in the forest.'

It wasn't phrased as a question, but the sideways glance towards the bushes and tilting ears made her think that he was asking if he should hide.

"Stay," she said in a soothing tone of voice. "He's family, he can see you as you are, my friend. Just don't let the girls find out you're..."

'Yeah, yeah, I'm your boyfriend, not a shrine guardian, got it,' he laughed in her mind. A sausage slice dropped from the tangled noodles right on her knee. 'Really, couldn't think of a better explanation?'

"Excuse me! I was trying to make sure they wouldn't come hounding after you!" she glared at him, trying to hold back her blush. He might be a dog right now, but she knew he wasn't, he was a handsome, cute and annoying boy. 'You're too handsome to be left alone, you idiot! And your ears are too cute!'

Her eyes widened at the same time that her hands flew to cover her mouth, heat covering her face. The dog froze with a few stray noodles hanging from between his fangs and some of the ramen broth dripping off of them.

The telepathy link they shared wasn't a total bond that would let them in the other's head. Their thoughts and memories weren't immediately known to the other. It merely enabled Inuyasha to communicate with her in his canine form. It also allowed them to talk over some distance, but it wasn't much bigger than a shouting distance would be. It also allowed Kagome to talk to him... If she directed her thoughts at him.

"Oh my gods, I thought it out loud," she gasped. Inuyasha looked away, his ears twitching rapidly. He took a small step back and lowered his body closer to the ground, as if unsure what to do. His body grew back to its usual size as he retorted.

'K-keh! Stupid wench, half-breeds ain't handsome,' he forced out, his mental voice strained and a growl coming out of his throat. "And my ears ain't cute! Damn you, I'm a youkai, not a plush toy!'

"You know what, you're right, you aren't cute, not even a bit!" she glared at him in a mixture of embarrassment and anger. She picked the sausage slice from her knee and waved it in front of his snout. "And you eat like a slob!"

The 'not cute' ears, previously laid back, kicked forward, golden eyes zeroing on the bit of meat she held. A pink tongue sneaked out from his mouth and the morsel was snatched out of her fingers before she knew what happened. She stared at him with her mouth open, her hand still between them, the miko unsure if she should make an 'awww' or an 'ewww' noise.

And that was how Souta found them.

.

To be blunt - he wasn't prepared for her. He was glaringly not prepared for her and now he was confused and lost.

He had lived in the shrine almost his whole life. He had spent five centuries serving twenty seven shrine keepers, but he wasn't prepared for the twenty eighth one.

She had came into his life suddenly like a summer rain - the old man had just up and declared retirement, handing the shrine and all attached to it, in her hands.

She had been raised away from the shrine and when she had been visiting earlier he had never paid her much attention, preferring to stay away from humans in general. But when she came to take her grandfather's place, she had brought changes Inuyasha had never expected to come.

Oh, he had had reasonably friendly shrine keepers. He had had clueless ones that hadn't been trained before taking up the mantle. But never in his life had he one not carrying even a bit of fear of him.

She came into his life like a tsunami tide, turning the order he knew upside down. How was he supposed to act around her now? She seemed not only to not fear him, she was actively seeking his company just for the sake of spending time with him.

As if she was blind to the fact that - shrine guardian or not - he was a half-breed, an abomination that was granted sanctuary and a safe place in this world only because he swore to obey and protect, giving the kotodama of his name to her.

She was crazy, this brave, clueless, clumsy, lovely, nicely smelling wench, she had to be for bringing so many changes into his life without even trying.

She was breaking all the order, changing the laws installed by her ancestors. She gave him food, worried about him when a storm came, while her ancestors had been content with making sure he could take care of himself by himself. She granted him the permission to enter the home, to wander freely through the shrine grounds as long as his ears were covered, she even let an outsider - her mother - learn about him.

...That woman's hands had been so gentle when they stroked his ears, he couldn't remember anyone doing that in his entire life since his mother's passing...

And then she went and declared him her boyfriend. Oh, he knew it was a lie, but the mere thought that a lowly hanyou could enter any kind of romantic relationship with a human... He knew what a boyfriend meant - her grandfather had had explained it to him when her father had started dating her mother years ago.

When she came with the food for him he approached her in his dog form, thinking that it'd feel less awkward. He was still unsure what to think and it looked like every time he twitched his ears she was doing or saying something to throw him off balance. It was annoying, the feeling of unpredictability, but at the same time he was feeling as if he was allowed to run through a wild forest for the first time in his life.

He pushed her away with his snout, he growled at her and there was still no trace of fear in her scent. She sat next to an inu youkai and never thought how dangerous he was. She even had the audacity to argue with him. He had thought that after witnessing him fighting she'd learn, but apparently she was too dense. Maybe next time he should tear a youkai to shreds in front of her?

But... Did he want her to fear him? To distance herself from him, like almost all others had done before? To call him only when she needed his assistance? To hesitate before touching him? Or did he want to explore this new wild forest, find out where the path of the tsunami wave led? Did he want to trust her?

And just then, when she was yelling at him, smelling embarrassed and nervous, but not for the right reasons, he went and licked her hand like a dumb dog he was.

But there was a good side to it - she got quiet and was now just staring at him, blushing madly. The bad side was he was probably more embarrassed than she was.

And - of course - that was when the order of things was breached once more.

"Komainu..." breathed out a new voice. Inuyasha leaped to face the newcomer, snarling, his head low as he readied himself to pounce. But it was just the boy, Kagome's brother. He looked pale - paler when he saw Inuyasha's reaction - but unharmed.

"Inuyasha, don't hurt him," Kagome hissed, her hand grasping the ruff of fur around his neck. It was an order, but he wasn't going to attack the young Higurashi anyway.

Of course it was all the wench's fault - she had ordered him to allow the other Higurashi family members to see him. And now he was to somehow interact with this creature. His ears laid back he glared at them both.

And now the boy was staring at him with those eyes shining with child-like awe Inuyasha knew. Many others of his family had looked at him like this, at least until they had witnessed him in battle and other youkai harming humans.

He remembered pushing Kagome out of the well-house and leaping to tear this same boy out of the youkai's grasp.

"You... You are the man in red," Souta said after a moment, watching the tense dog that was much bigger than any mortal canine. The dog's head bobbled in confirmation. "Thanks for saving me."

"Souta, this is Inuyasha, he's the shrine guardian and my partner," Kagome said.

'I thought I was your boyfriend,' he jibed and got his fur pulled.

"Oh, hush, you!" Kagome grumbled, looking away. Souta carefully approached, never turning his admiring gaze away from the inu youkai crouched beside his sister. At her words he blinked and tilted his head, so the girl explained. "He can't really talk in this form, so he uses telepathy.

"Wow, cool!" Souta turned towards Inuyasha. "Can you talk to me too?"

'No, kid,' Inuyasha shook his head, knowing only Kagome could hear him. She passed his reply to the boy, who pouted.

"That's not fair, why does she get a cool youkai companion?" he grumbled.

'Gods help me, is no one in this family sane anymore?' Inuyasha lifted his eyes to where the inner shrine was located, as if looking for the mountain deity to answer. The deity, of course, didn't bother.