Chapter 51

Obnoxiously loud sniffing continued at the base of the tree he was perched in. No subtle effort so far on his part was able to deter the inquisitive mutt from abandoning his quest to root him out.

The stupid little face tilted up, big watery eyes looking straight at him. Then its tongue lolled out, silly ears one at alert, one drooping lopsided but undoubtedly all senses directed at him.

So exuberant, so little caution. For a village dog to be so unguarded must mean it led a good life, probably doted upon by the family Inuyasha was currently trying to observe in secrecy.

It wouldn't be so secret anymore if the damn dog decided to start barking.

With regret, Inuyasha let his youki flare minutely, enough to cause the to dog back off with a startled whine. It retreated into one of the other huts in the distance.

He rather liked animals, particularly the ones kept as pets. Another cursed trait courtesy of his human half, he supposed. It was a closely guarded fact, because kami knows he didn't need another weakness on display.

With the cute distraction out of the way, Inuyasha directed his attention back to the man working at the far end of the yard.

It was risky to do this, he knew, willingly sneaking into a human settlement. And if it wasn't for the fact that he had to have his shit together in preparation for a winter with Kagome, he'd be caught dead before doing something this inane. He'd simply never had a chance to be taught and frankly, had no need of this skill before his life took an unexpected turn.

But he couldn't afford wasting any more days on trial and error. The few that he did spend trying and failing to transform animal skin to passable furs for human use felt enough of a waste.

So he came here, to a small logging community he'd found during his extensive scouting of the area. It was only a handful of huts, but one of the men was a hunter. On the days he wasn't roaming the surrounding forests, he was treating the furs.

Inuyasha had spent several days watching the man from the tree tops. It was handy that the settlement was nestled amongst the dense forests, which meant there was ample hiding spots that still let him have a full view of the man's work.

So far he'd noted that the treatment of the pelts was a very specific procedure. And it took time. The man would finish one step and deliberately pause, sometimes waiting days before progressing.

There was the careful, precise scraping of all the fat and tissue from the skin of the animal. Then the meticulous washing process without getting gunk stuck in the fur. After that came the stretching of the skin evenly across a frame. He studied the contraction of the human muscles and the tautness of his broad form to guess at exactly how tight the pelt must be. The wooden frame seemed feasible to build on his own, but the twine would be difficult to improvise.

Between the various projects the man had advanced to different stages along the way, Inuyasha was pretty certain he'd learned enough to guide his own attempts at preparing furs for Kagome to use as the temperature dropped further.

Seizing the instant the man ducked into the hut, Inuyasha swooped down, snatching up one of the spare spools of twine and left a silver coin in its place. He knew that silver was many times the value of the twine, but he did not want to risk cheating this honest man working for his living.

As the settlement completely disappeared behind the boughs, he sent a silent thanks to the human still toiling diligently in the fading light. In a different life, if Inuyasha was not what he was, perhaps they could've worked alongside each other. As quickly as that thought came, it vanished back into his subconscious.

Inuyasha bounded back up the mountain and then across the ridge back towards a particular peak at the far end of the range. Most of the terrain was committed to his memory after obsessively patrolling the area the past weeks. He was finally able to assure himself that any youkai or predators large enough to pose a threat to Kagome were driven away from a wide perimeter around their alpine dwelling.

The sky had shifted into a wide expanse of muted oranges and pinks by the time he landed on the edge of the plateau. Even before his feet had made contact with the rock, Kagome had already sensed him.

From afar he could see the generous smile she sent him as she met his eyes.

Something about the sight, how she perched at the fire side and her natural welcome to his return made his stomach feel funny. A little squeeze that chased warmth up his chest then flushed to his cheeks.

Frick, he's gotten soft.

Trying to shrug it off, he strode up to their cooking fire as nonchalantly as he could.

"Hey, Kagome." He greeted. Bending down, he set the two sturdy sticks speared with meat he'd already prepared before hand over the flames. "Thought ya might be tired of fish."

"Hmmm, no. But this is nice too." She chirped. Peering up at him teasingly, she paused whatever she was working on. "Also, hi, Inuyasha. How was your day spying?"

"Good. I think I've learned as much as I can by watching. Pretty sure it won't be the disaster like it was last time."

She giggled. "It wasn't that bad."

"Uh huh." He gave her a pointed look. "You were gonna puke every time you came around to check on the progress."

"Blame my urban sensibilities."

It had been pretty bad even by his standards. Dunno what he was thinking, leaving so much of the meat on, which attracted bugs and the skin started rotting before he could get it to dry.

"Just gonna haveta give it another go."

Kagome bobbed her head in understanding. "Yup. Kinda like what I did with these things." She waved the rough square of weaving in her hand for emphasis. "I mean it's not exactly pretty but I think it'll do for what we need it for."

"It ain't bad." He mumbled at the crown of her head as she refocused on her task.

While he'd been busy with his projects, so had she. Frankly, he was surprised by how many things they managed to throw together with little to no experience on either of their parts. For example, the stack of rush mats that served as her bedding. It was a joint effort; they'd gone to gather the rush, cutting and bundling up the stalks as well as they could. He didn't know how many trips he'd made hauling that stuff up the mountainside. And after some planning, Kagome had went ahead and roughly weaved together.

Emboldened by the success, Kagome was now experimenting on some smaller versions for them to sit on.

Within this short time, the narrow plateau have been totally transformed. If one were to ignore the endless forest and uninterrupted rock faces that rose high around them, it would almost seem domestic.

Though Kagome was insistent on staying somewhat organized, reality was they were basically gathering any and everything they could find that might be even remotely useful over winter.

Things were drying everywhere; plant material not so attractive to wildlife were spread outside while berries and other edibles they tried to keep higher up and inside the cave.

Scattered about were all the projects he'd started as part of his mission to try and provide her with as many human implements he could attempt to recreate.

This wasn't to say he'd gotten over being regularly overcome by waves of guilt and shame at the lack of material possessions he had to his name. That it was kinda his fault Kagome was out here in the middle of nowhere making do with piles of grass instead of a proper shelter.

Inuyasha quickly schooled his features before Kagome could catch him moping again. Thankfully, she was still bent over, wrestling with the last few knots to tie off the frayed edges.

Inadvertently, his eyes drifted back to linger on her, her wavy hair tumbling over her shoulders and getting in her way.

It seemed like he was always looking at her these days, trying to pick up on any hint of discomfort she might not be voicing. She was the persevering type, determined to do the best and make the best out of every situation.

But she was still painfully human and he worried.

Physical illness was on the forefront of his mind of course, but he was also worried she might be lonely by herself all day. He knew she wasn't used to isolation like he was, and had spent her whole life surrounded by people.

His gaze dropped to her slim shoulders and how she was wearing all the clothing she had brought from the village. The alpine air was cool and getting cooler by the day. He needed to successfully preserve some furs. At least a handful of pelts for sure, some for blankets at night and some to wear.

He was so damn out of his element.

A sudden loud whoop made him jump, his ears flattening down into his hair in protest.

Inuyasha glared halfheartedly at his companion. Kagome grinned toothily back at him in response, triumph flashing in her grey eyes.

"Yes! It's holding!" Kagome crowed, shoving the two finished seating mats in his face for his examination. "Just in time for dinner."

He tried but failed to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching up in response to her infectious enthusiasm. Giving in to the feel of her hand pushing at his side, he lifted one side of his butt to let her slide one of the mats underneath him.

"Decent." He mumbled at her, and watched her expression brighten even more.

Still so inexplicable, her every response to him. That somehow she sought him, a hanyou's approval.

Looking for something to detract the attention before he gave into the urge to squirm from awkwardness, Inuyasha reached to give the spits of cooking meat another turn. "Meat's almost done, Kagome."

"Yum... I can't wait." She nodded eagerly. "Lemme get what I made earlier."

He watched her bounce up and trot to the cave.

The most important thing at present was to keep trying. He could hunt and he could labour with his two hands.

He wanted so badly to do good by Kagome.

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A/N: Hello! I wanted to update one more time before the end of the year; 'scuse the hasty editing. Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays if you celebrate them. Thank you for the support this year and I'll be back in 2025 :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. However, this plot, the exact sequence of words and any original characters described therein, I reserve all rights to.