LXXXVIII

Ductus Exemplo

The villagers see Sesshomaru leaving, a great white Dog with clouds in the shapes of the fu character flowing from his heels. The word means good fortune, but a green mist goes before him, blotting out the sun. Though there's beauty in his passage, the birds along his path fall dead to the ground, and in moments, the mixture of pink dawn and acid green fog has muddied the horizon with an ominous aura.

The screams of the women, up early to start the fires for their households, wake their men and children. The men run outside, then are forced cover their faces with their sleeves and hold their breaths against a blast of poison air. The wind of the Inu's passage brings the corrosive mist down among them, and those who are directly in its path or closest to the forest drop dead mid-inhalation. Man, woman, or child, they dissolve into oily smudges on blackened ground.

The beast flies into the east, and the screaming is silenced as he passes overhead, but it's only a silence of held breaths. Perhaps thirty seconds pass, and then there's gasping and coughing. Shouts of fear – but that means they've survived. The wind moves quickly, and those who can scream and cry are no longer the ones in immediate danger.

Instead, there are fearful voices shouting together from opposite ends of the village, both north and south. "The fields! No, look at them!" The newly planted seedlings meant to feed them in the coming year are withering away, melting into the paddies as black ooze.

"The river – look at the river!" Fish rot in the water, are rising to the surface as scum and tainting the current.

"What are we going to do? What are we going to eat?"

But there are only many voices asking the same questions, and no one to answer them. The tears come then, and a great deal of wailing, but hours pass before they dare to touch what remains of the bodies melted into the ground. It is hours more before a girl comes quietly out of the smashed and melted remnants of the trees, and into the heart of the village where death has been.

"Rin-chan! What have you been doing, where have you been? It's been days, we thought you were dead! And there's been such a disaster-"

The village head's wife has never been cruel to her, though she has never been kind, either. But then, who is kind to anyone that doesn't belong to them? After her parents, Rin had learned that as the first of many unkind lessons. Like she had learned that silence is safer, far safer, than either lies or truth. She had only tried to talk to kami-sama because before him, safety of any kind meant nothing.

Now, in her mind, she can see the sliver of his golden gaze, feel it pouring over her, an eye like a sun burning every other fear to ashes. She can hear his breath again, an exhalation that refused to admit pain. The questions of the head's wife are like ripples on a steady surface, and Rin stares at her, thinking. Is there a reason not to answer her? Can she deny the truth? Does she want to?

No, she thinks. She wants them all to know. And maybe, not telling them would be more dangerous. Because he is dangerous, and to deny him more so.

The head's wife is not really expecting an answer; Rin has been silent for months. But maybe because of that, everyone stares when she finally opens her mouth. "I was with Kami-sama."

The woman falls to her knees. After that, as if it's a signal of some kind, the rest of the villagers do the same, all of them kneeling, but Rin only stares at them, neither moving nor accepting because she knows this is not for her. They are bowing to Kami-sama, who brought death to the village; Kami-sama, with whom she has been alone in the forest for three days.

As yet, she only half understands that it's because Kami-sama, who brings death, has allowed her to live.

"What is the name of this mononoke, Rin-chan? This is very important, did Kami-sama tell you his name?"

"No." She shakes her head once, sharply. "Kami-sama doesn't talk. Kami-sama bleeds and can't die, the reddest red and the whitest white." Then she smiles, dimpling. "Kami-sama is beautiful."

The villagers press their foreheads to the ground and tremble. Rin stares at the sky. "Kami-sama is going east." But talking makes her cracked lips bleed, and the wetness on her lips reminds her that it's been a long time since she had anything to drink. As if it's an afterthought, she mutters, "I'm thirsty," still getting used to the sound of her own voice.

She isn't expecting anything, but one of the women nudges her son, and he runs to the well, and then to Rin, splashing half the bucket in his haste. "Here, Rin-chan. You can drink this, the well is still clean."

Rin stares at him. Hachimaru? Why would you bring me water? Last week he stole her only good fish, and said she stole it from him. She stares at his mother, the woman who urged him over. Hanayuki-san, you don't like me at all. For food no one else would have eaten, a strip of dry flesh her son didn't even want, the woman had beaten her so hard she'd spit out a tooth.

She doesn't say anything else; what is there to say? Anyway, she's thirsty; she takes the water and drinks deeply, looking at Hachimaru and his mother over the rim of the bucket. Something greedy is stirring in their faces, but she doesn't know what it is, can't identify it. She probes the hole where her missing tooth belongs with her tongue, and decides to remember them, and the look in their faces now, and their names.

The taijiya lives, somehow. Through the afternoon, while Miroku boils water and Kagome racks her memory for remedies that aren't hers, but Kikyou's. Through the evening, by which time Kouga has returned with sheets of rough linen, scavenged from the depths of the den, to serve as bandages. By midnight, Sango's breathing is steady, if not easy, and Kagome has fallen asleep with the woman's blood still streaked on her face and hands.

She wakes after only an hour, from the beginning of a dream in which it felt like she was falling, but even half-asleep she can tell it's because Kouga has come to bring her home. He's running; she can feel the wind around her, the rhythm of his footfalls, and his hands hold her close and carefully, pulled tight against his chest. She shifts a little bit, wraps her arms around his neck, and falls asleep again.

Somewhere between the moonlight wood and dawn, she comes half-awake a second time, encapsulated in warmth. Kouga's familiar hands are moving carefully over her skin, almost like a massage, but more smoothly, and when she manages to open her eyes, she sees steam and the back of his head and then water. This is… a bath? How did I get in the tub?

She's not quite awake, and the heat makes it hard to want to be. It takes a few blinks before she realizes Kouga is actually bathing her, scrubbing her skin, washing her hair, his hands and claws very careful as he rinses dirt and Sango's blood away. Why has he gone to so much trouble for her?

When winter froze the river, he had melted ice for her to bathe through the cold season, making sure the water was at least tepid, if not always very hot. Rarely does he bother, or does she ask, for him to drag the tub out, even though she's known since the night of their courtship announcement that it's there. That feels like a mistake now, while she smiles sleepily at his cute look of concentration. Wouldn't it be nice for him to do this when she's more awake?

It takes a great deal of effort, but she manages to lift one hand and touch his cheek. "Spoiling me?"

His eyes dart up to meet her gaze quickly, but there's no surprise in them, just a smile, as if he knew she was stirring already. "Could never. Are you really awake, or will you think I'm a dream in the morning?"

"Dreamy, Kouga. Hmm…"

He laughs at her. "Definitely still sleeping. I'll remember you said that to tease you later, woman." She should say something to that, she knows, but instead she lets her eyes drift closed again, content to enjoy his attention. Vaguely, she's aware when he lifts her out of the water; dries her with linen; brings her to bed. She feels his intentions in his hands as they're leaving her, and with her last drop of wakefulness she wraps her arms around him to keep him there instead.

When she really wakes up, with the full light of the sun streaming in her face, he's still there with her, or if he left, he did it without her noticing and then came back. She rubs her face against his chest, smiling to herself. So nice. He might have thought she wasn't going to remember, but she does, and the memory is sweet. Even if I said he was dreamy.

Her blush heats her cheeks, but she shrugs and kisses his shoulder before she sits up. So what? Even if it's silly, it's true. Definitely, one hundred percent true. And there had been no one there to hear her but him, and he... "You're all mine, so I don't care. So there."

One blue eye opens slowly, peering up at her, then closes again. "I think I only understand half of that, but the half I get, I like."

"Kouga!"

"What? I'll be all yours any time, but hearing it's a really nice good morning."

"You are so sneaky!" She covers her cheeks with her hands. How long has he been awake? Probably just long enough to see her make a fool of herself, as usual -

"What about you, Kagome?"

Still flustered, she rubs her hands on her face and squints at him. "What about me?"

He wraps both his arms around her waist. "What kind of good morning do you want?"

As if on cue, her stomach grumbles, and he rubs his cheek against her belly, snickering, and then sits up and throws his legs over the edge of the bed. "That is the sound of a hungry woman." He throws a suspicious glance back at her over his shoulder. "Don't tell me you forgot to eat yesterday, working on that taijiya."

She winces. "Guilty. Please don't fuss, I was distracted. And anyway, it's hard to have an appetite covered in blood."

"I don't know about that-"

She blinks at him, trying very hard to visualize nothing at all. "Kouga. Please don't kill breakfast."

"Sorry, sorry." The kiss that falls on her forehead is a better apology. "Sit tight, I'll bring you something."

"In bed? You are going to spoil me."

"Didn't I say that's impossible, woman? It's just an excuse for me to spend time with you. We'll be cleaning today, dragging all the furs out to air before we get drenched." He wrinkles his nose. "Tomorrow, maybe tomorrow night and the next day, it'll rain. For a while, I think."

"Oh fun." She drops back onto the bed, watching him get dressed and slip out into the den. It's only a few minutes after he's gone that it occurs to her that she should have asked him to see if there were any oranges left.

There are two; he knows her well enough to bring them, even if she didn't say.

After breakfast, Kagome learns that by dragging all the furs out, Kouga really meant all of them. By the time he lets her out of bed, and she pokes her head out into the main chamber, it's already been stripped to bare rock.

When she tries to help him strip their bed, he only smirks at her and turns her toward her own room – and afterward, she's grateful for what she thinks is his thoughtfulness, because even the dozen or so pelts in that little chamber are heavy work to roll up and carry outside. She's spent very little time in there, and her clothes have been in more contact with the furs than she has, but as well ventilated and well kept as the den is, a cave is still a cave. Airing things is only good sense.

When she steps outside, though, her arms full of fur and leather, Kagome stops and gapes. The valley outside the den entrance looks like a mad, pelt-hoarding spider has come to roost overnight. Lines of heavy, but finely spun cord have been strung all over the place, connecting rocks and trees, trees and trees, and a few tall, thick poles that might as well be trees.

The furs missing from inside are hung over the cord, and in a few places Kagome can already see clouds of dust rising in the sunlight, where the some of the Wolves are hard at work beating them clean. From below, by the river, a waving figure catches her attention.

"Kagome! Down here, there's room! Toss your furs down, then come!" Shiori is alone with a pile of her own things, or perhaps hers and her mates'. Kagome looks at her furs doubtfully, more concerned with her own ability to throw them very far than Shiori's ability to catch. Then again, they cover the floor in the den, is bouncing off a rock going to hurt them any?

"Catch, then!" The first few go where Kagome wants them, but her arms are tired after carrying the pile this far, and her aim gets considerably worse after that. Shiori still manages to catch them, snickering at her, but Kagome is just glad to stretch her legs instead of her shoulders as she comes down from the entrance to where Shiori has already started hanging her own furs.

It's not as hard to get the individual pelts up and over the cord, and conversation with Shiori is easy and occasionally educational. Since the day Kagome had saved Sho, Shiori has been her biggest supporter, excepting Kouga himself. If not for the line of status between them, the female Wolf's obvious intention to acknowledge Kagome's relationship with Kouga at the soonest opportunity, Kagome might count Shiori her best friend.

She can feel that line, though, a not-quite-submission in Shiori's words, in her actions, always shaping their friendship in a subtle way. It makes it hard for Kagome not to respond the way she knows she should, because she doesn't want to insult her. She can't pretend she doesn't know how important their Alpha is to the pack, and she still worries, though less after all this time, that she might say something that's not appropriate.

And, blushing a bit, Kagome shakes her head and tosses another pelt up on the line. Appropriate for Wolves, at any rate. And so what if it's not quite an equal relationship? Shiori is still a very good friend, even if sometimes deferential in odd ways.

A burst of laughter attracts Kagome's attention, especially since she hears Kouga's mixed in with it, and when she sees why, she flushes, half-mortified. Kouga has being bringing out his own furs, and now he's brought the ones off his bed. The top layers are full of holes, rents and claw-scratches that gape open as he tosses them over the line. Kagome hides her face in a deer hide, and then tries out a scowl on Shiori when she, too, starts laughing.

"Kagome, we're not laughing at you, we're laughing at him. At our Alpha, who's so in love he's no choice but to tear his furs to ribbons, trying to keep himself from you. Look at him, Kagome." And she feels the prick of clawed fingers poking her arm. "Look at his face."

Kagome keeps her scowl on Shiori for another moment, but she can't resist seeing what she's fussing about, and looks up at her Alpha. Arms crossed over his chest, not moving an inch, Kouga is still smirking, still laughing. The faintest blush, the one Kagome loves the most, is painted across the bridge of his nose. Occasionally, one of those passing by says something, though Kagome can't hear what at this distance, and the blush darkens to a fiery red, crawling up his cheekbones.

Despite herself, she can't help but giggle. But the more Wolves go in and out of the den past him, the more Kagome sees them laughing, making jokes, the more she sees that Kouga really just looks… happy. Proud, and pleased. And it occurs to her then that he didn't have to hang those furs right there, at the top of the ledge right below the den's entrance, where everyone going in and out would see them. But he had done it on purpose-

"Are you going to yell at him, Kagome? You shouldn't, it's a blessing on a mating when a courtship goes well."

"Yell at him?" Kagome grins, shaking her head. "No, I won't do that. It's embarrassing, but didn't he embarrass himself more than me? I'm not the one who tore them. And anyway, he's not a pervert like Miroku. I know he wouldn't do it on purpose unless it was something like that. I suppose everyone wants to see that I'm pleased with the way he's pleasing me?"

The mention of Miroku makes Shiori's lips twitch, but she nods. "Yes, that's right. It's good that you understand, better that you're treating him well."

But Kagome is only half listening to Shiori now, because it occurs to her that surely, in a pack this large she and Kouga can't be the only ones who are courting? Wouldn't there be others doing the same?

It feels like she's discovered a secret code, and gained a new insight into the Wolves' culture. Few and far between, but visible all the same, she sees other couples with torn furs on display, less conspicuous than their Alpha's, but with the same dynamic working between them and the pack. There's the same pleased pride in the males, and less conspicuous, the females blushing among their friends.

Suddenly, for the first time, even if she's human, Kagome feels like she's really part of the pack. It's a nice feeling, soothing the need for community that Kouga, loving and attentive as he is, can't fill alone. Grinning, something that has long been tight inside her chest slowly easing, she accepts a hand from Shiori, and then stands up and gets back to work hanging furs.

The morning passes quickly, and shortly after noon, Shippou comes flying by, carrying a bucket of spring water and a leaf-wrapped package. "Kagome! I have stuff for you, food and water and a message from Miroku! And a message from Kouga-sama, too." He leans in conspiratorially, handing things off one by one. "I'm pretty sure he didn't really have anything to say, but he was annoyed because of the one from Miroku."

Kagome covers her mouth with her hand, sharing a glance with Shiori out of the corner of her eye. "I see. Well, that can't be what he actually said –"

"Nah, he said… No, wait, he said I have to give you Miroku's message first." Kagome snickers again, but waves for him to continue as she tips up the bucket and swallows cold water gratefully. "The patrol's changed, and Miroku sent news with them that the taijiya woke up. Buuut then she passed out again. So he says technically, a small change, but really no change, and at least she isn't any worse."

"Ah." Kagome makes a face, then sighs. News about Sango is not really what she wants to be thinking about right now, but it isn't bad news, which is something. "That's good, I guess. At least he's doing his job. But what about you, Shippou? Who put you to work as a messenger?"

"Well… Nobody, but I didn't have anything to do and it was boring. Alpha says I'm too little for everything, even if I'm kitsune, and I have magic, and I can hunt and fight. Even if I have wind-fire wheels."

"And your father says?"

Shippou scowls, but pets the ever-present pelt on his shoulders. "That he's right."

"You know Kouga won't keep you from learning what you need to, when it's time. Didn't he help you avenge your father? Some things won't wait, and we know that. But don't be in such a hurry to grow up." Something about the advice tastes slightly bitter, but Kagome shrugs it off. Like many other things, there's no point being wistful about what it would have been like being a real teenager. "So what was your very important message from Kouga, Shippou?"

"Oh! Kouga-sama said to tell you he forgot something really important this morning when you got up."

"But you said he didn't really -"

"He said he didn't say he loved you, and that he promised to remind you lots, so he should have." Instantly, her gaze flashes up to where Kouga's standing, and she sees that he's watching her, watching Shippou give his message, and looking very pleased with himself.

Beside her, Shiori nudges her shoulder. "Do you want revenge? Smile at him, Kagome. See what it does."

Smile at him? I'm always smiling at him. But the thought of how happy he makes her, how sweet and silly he is, is enough that she can and does, a blinding, brilliant smile that says many things she doesn't yet have words for. For once, she sees his face change, because Shiori told her to look at him, and she's watching for it. His eyes brighten, and that blush is back on his cheeks, and his whole expression is lit up with love.

She sees his involuntary step, the way he means to come to her, jump right off the ledge and be beside her, as if she's summoned him with her smile. And she can see Ginta over his shoulder, making fun of the lovestruck look on his face, and the way he turns to threaten his beta with an unshakeable grin.

"Kagome?"

"Hmm… Oh! Sorry, Shippou. Was there something else?"

He's smirking a very foxlike smirk, holding his toes and rocking back and forth mid-air. "I just don't get it. Kouga-sama said he needed to tell you he loves you lots, so that you would get used to it. He said if you look like you're forgetting, I should help him remind you. But you already know, and you're just as bad as he is, so what did he mean?"

Kagome shakes her head despite herself. "I am not as bad as Kouga. No way." Then she fluffs up Shippou's puff of hair. "But he's being very sweet, that's all. Don't mind him. Is that all your deliveries, Messenger-dono?"

"Yep! Don't wait too long to eat though, the furs are almost all hung around here, they'll start beating them soon." He races off with the breeze, leaving a line of blue fire behind him.

A/N: So fun fact: This chapter was originally 18,000 words long, because I was possessed by the spirit of lychee soju. Good stuff! Ahem. Anyways, as you can see, this chapter is no longer 18,000 words, because that would be insane, and also it wasn't in order. So that's some future chapters to look forward to (yes, that is me you hear cackling on the wind) and this chapter's title, Ductus Exemplo, means "leadership by example". Ever onward, glorious beings!

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