Dog Guardian 43
A/N: Read and revire as you please.
Next update probably next weekend
Beta: Cstorm86

The Miko Orders

"What are you doing, wench?"

Inuyasha's voice was tense and low, obviously annoyed and confused. She didn't struggle to pull her hands from his grasp, her gaze dropping to the beads around his neck.

"I wanted to remove them," she uttered.

"That's plain to see," he grumbled. "But why? Was I not a good shrine guardian? Did I break some weird rule of yours you didn't tell me about?" He sounded agitated and confused.

"What?" she blinked at him. "No, you are a great partner and you didn't break any rules. I just..."

"Then why?" he asked, tilting his head and letting go of her hands when she released her hold on the rosary. She let her hands fall to her sides. His ears hid in his hair when he took a step back. "I get it, you think I'm too weak. I knew I shouldn't let you see my human..."

"No, stop!" Kagome shook her head. He didn't even think about the right reason. It was as if he couldn't see that she wanted him to be free and not under her power. She knew that there was a chance that he could just leave her after being released, but she didn't want to focus on it. It wasn't right to keep him tied to her against his will and she would manage, somehow, if he chose to go away. Her heart squeezed briefly at that thought, but she was more focused on trying to find the right words to use to explain herself.

He glanced at her for a moment before letting his eyes drift to the side.

"Listen," she swallowed and squared her shoulders. "I want to remove the necklace, because it's not right. It's not right for me to hold power over you. It's not right to do what my ancestors did, abusing the kotodama to make you do stuff you didn't like or put yourself in harm's way. You're not worse or better than I am, a person who should be able to choose for themselves, according to their heart and..."

He was looking at her again, his eyes wide and oddly innocent, the perked ears and slightly agape mouth completing the look of utter bewilderment. She felt tears in her eyes when she thought about his past, the poor boy had been treated so badly for so long that now he looked as if he couldn't believe her words, as if he heard them for the first time in his life.

"I want for you to stay the shrine guardian and my partner, and my friend," she blinked rapidly, trying to explain what she felt the best way she could "But I want you to do it of your own will."

"I surrendered my name to your family by my own will," he interrupted. "I am allowed to live here and have a purpose in life in exchange for my assistance."

"But my ancestors, they used the kotodama to bind you, to make you do stuff you didn't want to," she whispered. "I saw, you know. I saw how they treated you, how they said all that bad stuff about you... They used the necklace not as a sign of bond, but as a collar they could yank whenever they saw fit. Nothing good came from them using it."

She stopped, staring at the shrine guardian, who shook his head. For a moment he had a grim scowl on his face, his hand reaching to touch the beads.

"Feh! They... did and said hurtful shit," he glanced at her, as if afraid she'd deny him, despite the fact that she'd said the exact same thing a moment before. "But the beads... They also grant me power. I can assume a true form thanks to them. I... I can do other things thanks to them, too. If you remove them, we can't talk in our minds anymore. We're not bound anymore."

Kagome felt her heavy heart lift at his words, so soft they were. It was quite a shock to learn that he needed the necklace to do some of his tricks, but at least it meant that he had some profits from this all. He didn't look like he hated them and when she thought about it, he never looked really angry or resentful at her, her grandfather or Kaede, despite them being related to the rest. His memories of them in his fever had been devoid of bitterness and the heavy, dark weight of pain and loneliness.

An idea came to her mind.

"Inuyasha," she said, his name laced with her reiki. He froze, brought out of his thoughts, looking at her in mild annoyance. He most certainly didn't suspect what she was about to do. "I release you from all the commands of my ancestors. You're free to be the shrine guardian, to refuse helping me, to do whatever your heart wants. Well, I hope you won't go on a ramen-eating rampage," she giggled, a bit nervously, uncertain that she was wording her wish correctly, but knowing that it was right. "You are a person who is also a hanyou, but you sure as hell are no abomination or should be hidden away. I can't promise you that I won't use your kotodama, but I promise, I will try to be more considerate than my predecessors."

The kotodama no nenju pulsed a few times and the hanyou in front of her straightened his back as if a great weight was lifted from his shoulders. He offered her a lopsided smirk.

"Silly wench, and what if I decide to leave?" he asked. She gulped, but refused to look down. She'd thought about that, but hoped he wouldn't.

"Then I won't try to stop you. I mean I really hope you want to stay the shrine guardian and work with me, but..." she couldn't help, but look at him pleadingly. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Keh, you are helpless without me, I'm your shrine guardian and I will keep your ass safe," he declared, the tone of his voice more akin to his usual cockiness. Kagome smiled widely, happy and relieved.

"I will appreciate all your help," she assured him.

"But I am hardly free to do what I want," he turned his head to look at the Sacred Tree.

"Not true. You can do what you want, remember?" she reminded him, pointing a finger at the beads. "I mean I'd appreciate you not causing havoc and using common sense... But other than that, Inuyasha, do what you want."

It was only when a pair of strong, warm arms wrapped around her, pulling her against the rough fabric of his kimono, his nose nuzzling the side of her neck, that Kagome realized that she'd spoken the kotodama once more this day.

And, apparently, Inuyasha had wanted to squeeze her soul out of her body.

She was so stunned by both revelations, that she didn't even move, when a moment later Inuyasha, back in his dog form, fled the meadow, his cheeks probably flushing as red as hers did.

It was certain - things around the Higurashi shrine were changing.