Kagome tossed her backpack over the edge and pulled herself out of the Well. With a huff, she sat on the edge. She had half-expected Inuyasha to be waiting for her but the hanyou was still avoiding her. The yellow bag loaded with presents for her friends was bulging at the seams.
The village was bustling in the early morning. Women waved at her as they fetched water for their homes. Men were already long at work in the fields with shovels and scythes and seedlings. Kids were carrying water to newly planted sections, supplying the workers. Younger kids were following behind the men to cart away debris in little buckets.
"Morning!" Kagome waved at the little line of children. They waved back and called her miko-sama in a chorus of adorable voices. She proceeded down the worn dirt bath towards Kaede's house. Inuyasha could never deny a backpack full of ramen. She called and waited for an answer before ducking inside. Kaede was missing from her home. The elderly miko woke even before her mother to tend to the shrine, tend to the bedridden, check on her patients and pray. Only Inuyasha ever seemed to wake earlier.
She left her yellow bag in a corner before skipping outside. Sango and Miroku weren't home. Determined, she turned the corner outside and hurried towards the worksite for her future home. The day was already preparing to be dry and sunny. The knee-length blue skirt and white shirt had been a good choice. Her heart skipped happily when she found Inuyasha's white hair. He had stripped out of his red haori and tied a cloth over his ears. Miroku and a few older men, craftsmen, were at work. The foundation for their home was in place. Square lines on the ground with flat wooden boards akin to the shrine were finally coming together. Sango was sanding boards on a small scaffold. Years of tending Hiraikotsu made her scarily efficient.
"Kagome-sama!" Miroku acknowledged her first. Inuyasha was carrying lumber towards the men hammering nails into place. Real metal nails from her era, uniform in shape. When she had mentioned how easily they were procured, the men had scoffed. They hadn't believed her when she mentioned they were cheap at the hardware store. Metal nails required a blacksmith which the village did not have. It was one of the common items Miroku traded for on their trips to other provinces.
"Good morning!" Kagome smiled at her betrothed. The beautiful boy's ears swiveled in her direction but he didn't turn to greet her. She set her hands on her hips.
"Your house is progressing well. Inuyasha is determined." Miroku's smile was too innocent.
"Why aren't the men in the fields?" Kagome quickly counted the craftsmen and teenage boys. The number had increased. Even the middle aged men were usually in the fields in early spring.
"Inuyasha disappeared into the forest for several days and returned with a veritable bounty of goods. The men have been well paid." Miroku didn't bother to lower his voice. The village men waved at her awkwardly. "Things no one else could have procured in such time. Your husband will be a wonderful protector and provider. Any woman would be lucky – "
"Shut it, bouzu!" Inuyasha sounded irritated.
"The house should be done before your wedding at this pace. Plenty of time for you to move your things before your honeymoon." Miroku's voice was respectful but his lips pulled upwards into a perverted grin.
"Really?" Kagome was surprised. She knew Inuyasha's vision for their house far surpassed anything in the village. A room for storage. A separate kitchen. A separate room for sleeping. Most of the homes in the village were a single room.
"If the weather holds and Inuyasha doesn't exhaust them." Sango wiped her hands. She embraced the younger girl.
"Did you change your hair?" Sango noticed her straightened locks.
"It was just something," Kagome waited for Inuyasha to welcome her. When he continued to work, anger grew. After showing up to her house drunk, hooking up with her, then ditching her for four days to disappear into the woods, he was still ignoring her? Why wouldn't he say hello to her?
"Inuyasha, won't you greet your bride?" Sango noticed the miko's twitching hands.
"Hey." Inuyasha was crouched facing away from them. He lifted a hand.
"Inuyasha," Sango warned.
The stubborn boy rose fluidly and turned his attention on her. She waited for him to come towards her but he only nodded. Her friends exchanged glances. Even the workmen murmured at the weird silence between them.
"I've had it, dog boy!" Kagome's anger won and she marched forward. Gripping his hand, she locked her fingers with his. Inuyasha let her pull him away from the others rather than risk hurting her. She kept a vice grip on his digits. The noise from the hammers and saws faded in her ears as she marched past wild bushes. The sun's heat was less under the thick leaves.
"What is your problem, Inuyasha?" Kagome turned on him. "Why won't you talk to me?"
"I've been working!"
"Is that why you didn't say goodbye after breakfast? You disappeared!" Kagome stomped her foot.
"You were busy with your mom. I have to get the house done!" Inuyasha gestured at the sky.
"That's a lazy excuse! You could have told me where you were going." The hurt filled her voice. "You show up in the middle of the night and then you leave for four days! Did you want to hurt my feelings?"
"Of course not!"
"You didn't even say goodbye!" The tears she had been holding threatened to break free. "Was it that bad?"
Inuyasha looked completely bewildered.
"You can be such a jerk!"
"It's not like that! I was – I wanted the house to be ready! For us!"
"So it's a coincidence that you ditched me after we kissed an-and..." Kagome vaguely gestured to his crotch.
"What's that mean?"
"You got what you wanted and left the next morning!"
"Kagome that wasn't what...fuck!" Inuyasha touched her arms. She was still angry when he leaned down to kiss her. The distraction of her lower lip trapped between his couldn't mend her hurt feelings. She turned her head.
"Baka!"
"I'm sorry!" Inuyasha's wide eyes were full of worry.
"Why would you do that, baka?"
"I wanted to have the house ready," he pleaded. "For us. For you. I'm not good with words, you know that! I acted like such a jerk. I thought you might want time after what I did."
"I missed you." Kagome blushed as she remembered that night. His absence had not helped the returned fervor of her libido.
"I missed you too." Lips leaned down to brush against hers lightly. He was surprised when she grabbed his hair and forced him to step closer. The strength of her hold around his neck encouraged him to deepen their kiss.
"Hmph!" Kagome made a sound when she felt her back meet a tree. Their lips separated.
"You did miss me." The pleased look in his eye warmed the color to honey. She nearly melted when his hands rested over her ribs. So close to where they had been four days ago.
"Don't ever do that again." She tapped her finger on the end of his nose. "The next time we do anything like that, you stay."
"The next time?" Inuyaha's smile surprised her. "So we're doing that again?"
"Pervert." The hands on her ribs drifted to hold her hips. The promise of future couplings made her cheeks darken. The heat radiating from his body was a prominent reminder of their encounter. In her mind's eye, she could see the lean abdomen hidden under flowing clothing. The strong back sleeping on her bed. The mysterious hardness between Inuyasha's legs she was so curious to see.
"Fuck!" Inuyasha's lips pressed against her forehead. "How do you do that?"
"What?" Teenage hormones coursed through her. Her hands flattened against his chest. Their encounter had left her little time to explore his body. It was unfair!
"Humans." A breath ruffled her bangs. "Your smell. It's too much. How do humans get past it?"
"You can smell that?" Her pelvis shifted. She ducked her head against his chest as embarrassment raged through her. Inuyasha's hands stayed in innocent territory as he rubbed her back. The touch felt good.
"Sorry."
"It's just something I'll have to adjust to." He felt her shrug. "Does that mean you can smell when I'm...my cycle?" It was suddenly apparent to her. Hot embarrassment flooded her. It seemed obvious now.
"You mean the bleeding? Yeah." The answer was quiet. The repercussions of his intimate knowledge echoed through the past. Sango would be embarrassed if she knew. Somehow she had underestimated his nose in their everyday life.
"You've never mentioned it before."
"What was I supposed to say?"
"Can you smell anything else?" If they were going to be living together, she had to know.
"When you've been crying."
"Really?"
"Tears smell differently than water. Too much salt on your face. It stresses me out."
"Sorry." She squeezed him around the middle.
"When you're sick. Humans sweat and there's something else. I don't know how to describe it."
"Anything else?" Her hands followed the muscles in his lower back. Inuyasha didn't remark on her boldness. She hesitated before letting her hands flatten against his stomach. His breath hitched.
"When you want to kiss me."
"Yeah?"
Inuyasha pushed her hair aside as he dipped his head. She stood on her tip-toes. He groaned when her teeth caught his lower lip. His hands flattened on either side of the tree behind her at waist-level.
"Kagome..."
"You like that?" She gently caught his lip in her teeth and applied soft pressure. The look on his face made her legs shake.
"How about this?" Her hanyou waited as her lips passed over his jaw. She took the opportunity to kiss the skin above his pulse. The licking-sucking thing she remembered made Inuyasha exhale sharply. Doubts about her technique continued until his weight leaned against her. A hand on her waist squeezed.
"It's more like this." Inuyasha kissed her ear chastely before dipping a hand into her hair. He held her tortuously still as he gently sucked her ear. Desire bloomed as she imagined him licking-sucking other things.
"I think it's more like this." His hand released her easily. She pressed a kiss to the base of his throat. His shirt shifted aside easily for collarbone access.
"Kagome – "
Conversations with her friends recalled in her head. She blew on the wet kiss mark on his skin. She gently bit down on the area and felt Inuyasha tense. A soft kiss to the reddened area calmed him a bit. Feeling brave, she opened her mouth and gently drew her tongue upwards.
"Fuck," Inuyasha's head hung forward. His weight pressed against her.
A sexy, powerful control seized her. Inuyasha would let her do whatever she wanted. His eyes were closed and his ears were rotating like satellites. Grasping his jawline, she continued to kiss his neck. She sucked on his skin with wet lips and heard sounds. His ability to heal was greater than a human's, could he get a hickey? She sucked harder and felt his pelvis graze hers.
"Kagome..."
"Four days, Inuyasha." Her bold hands dipped into his hair to cup his head. She sucked hard.
"I'm so-oo-rry." Inuyasha's claws gripped the tree behind her. She heard them scrape against the bark. It was thrilling to have such an effect on him.
"How sorry?"
"Do that again!"
"This?" She licked the skin before pulling it into her mouth. Inuyasha groaned. His arms gripped her waist and lifted her. A commanding tongue filled her mouth. Her arms wrapped around his neck. The possibility of hiking her skirt up crossed her mind. It was so tempting to wrap her legs around his waist. Her rational mind scolded her for romanticizing quick, rabbit sex against a tree. The magic convulsions, the naked man aching to have her…!
Kagome panted for air as they physically separated. She let her full weight rest against the tree. Inuyasha's similar state made her pause.
"We can't," she remembered. "Not out here. Not against a tree."
"I know." The hardness was visible in the morning light. He blushed when he realized she was staring.
"Does that hurt?" Rumors from her friends were unclear in this matter.
"It's fucking annoying." The gruffness made her giggle.
"We're still waiting for the wedding?" The moral choice seemed silly with the aching wetness on her thighs. She saw Inuyasha swallow painfully. They could both imagine having daytime sex against a random tree. The relief.
"Your back would get splinters." Inuyasha glowered at the tree like an enemy.
"Ants on the ground."
"Your clothes would get stained."
Kagome shifted her legs and felt the wetness. Her hanyou turned his back on her in frustration.
"It's not that long. We can wait."
"I know." Inuyasha grumbled.
"It really doesn't hurt?"
"It aches a bit. It'll fade," the male dilemma before her answered. Love bloomed as remembered he wasn't like the boys she knew. It was an honest answer, not one intended to guilt her. "Do...do girls hurt?"
"No. It's just uncomfortable."
Disappointed resolve filled the space between them. Kagome focused on her love for him instead. He loved her enough to wait. He respected her enough to wait for something better than a tree and a hurried tryst. They would be married in almost no time at all. He still belonged to her. Their honeymoon would be romantic. She had booked the room herself. A private suite in a mountain lodge. A plush bed and a private bathroom. A custom menu to make Inuyasha happy. Walks through the city. Shopping.
"You should head back to the village. It's safe."
"What about you?"
"I need a few minutes. It'd be easier alone." The words were soft.
"I understand." Kagome felt the same. Her hanyou's presence still had her blood singing. She started towards home slowly.
"I love you, Inuyasha."
"Love you, wench."
