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Kagome was going to kill Inuyasha.
She really, really was.
Truly, she had never wanted to osuwari the silver-haired hanyō into the ground more than at that moment.
Because he was hovering.
Normally, she didn’t mind the hover. Because she knew that he meant well, and that it was from a sense of protectiveness over her.
And well, Kagome had just been kidnapped by Akago, the infant incarnation of Naraku who’d tried to hijack her soul while Inuyasha was off chasing false rumors of Kikyō.
But he’d made it to her in time.
And he’d rescued her in time.
Well, except for the shadow she felt in her heart. The one that came from the place where the infant had found Kagome’s pain. About Kikyō. About Inuyasha. About unrequited love.
So Kagome needed to be alone. Both so she could process that, but also because… for other reasons. More immediate reasons.
“Can’t you just… go do something else?” Kagome growled at the hanyō currently leaning against a tree, his arms crossed, not more than five meters from her.
“Keh…” Of course he would throw one of those at her right now. “Nothin’ needs doin’, except makin’ sure you’re safe.”
“I am safe, Inuyasha!” Kagome hissed, and stormed further afield, hoping that he would take the message.
Unfortunately, he didn’t. Because of course he didn’t. Because he didn’t understand that Kagome needed space… to think.
...and to poop.
Artwork commission by Disgruntled Beast
“I’m not letting you outta my fuckin’ sight,” Inuyasha snarled, his ears pinned back as he chased her.
Didn’t she understand?
He was almost too late. The fucking infant had almost hurt her. Because he was a fucking idiot who was so focused on his guilt over Kikyō that he’d nearly missed saving Kagome.
And something still felt off about her. Her smiles weren’t as bright, and when she didn’t think anyone was looking, her eyes turned hollow and sad.
So Inuyasha made a vow. He would always watch, always be there, always protect. Kikyō rumors or no, he would be by Kagome’s side, because the idea of losing her had nearly shattered him.
“I’m right here; I’m not going to wander off—I just want…” Kagome’s eyes were bugging out of her head, and she was gripping her stomach tightly, “some privacy.”
Privacy, though, meant that he could lose sight of her. He could lose her. Fucking Kagura had taken Kagome out from under their noses. It could happen again, unless he was right there. With her.
The fact that she smelled great certainly was a… bonus, and that when he closed his eyes, he could still see her luminous brown eyes and her smile and could still hear her voice—well, it was just easier to be there with the real thing. And when she yelled at him and he yelled back at her, the extra fire in his blood at her feistiness was completely normal.
In fact, the way she wore a little blush and stuttered as she tried to get rid of him, well… it was doing the opposite of what she wanted. He wanted to be close enough to sense her heart rate increasing, or the extra flutter in her breaths. He wanted to smell the irritation radiating off of her that mixed in so well with the scent that soothed his soul.
And if that meant he was going to be on the business end of an osuwari or two (or a dozen), then so be it.
What was the big deal anyway? He needed to protect Kagome. That was all there was to it.
“Seriously, Inuyasha, just stay over there!” Kagome’s voice had an urgency to it, and she was just about at the edge of where he was comfortable. One more step and he couldn’t be completely confident he could protect her.
“Keh.” Inuyasha wanted to listen to her; really, he did.
Then he heard Kagome take one more step away.
He launched himself with all the strength his yōki could give him. What if, in that millisecond, some great foe had found its way to her? He would have been one step too fucking far away to save her. He needed to get to her, because if he fucked up again… he would never forgive himself.
The figure of Kagome was finally coming into view as he descended and she was… She was…
Squatting.
With her skirt hiked up and…
Oh.
“Ka—Kagome?” Inuyasha probably should not have alerted her that he was coming, that he was witnessing…
“Osuwari!”
Yup, that one, he deserved.
“I’m going home!”
Kagome had not even asked if she could borrow Kirara. Apparently, the tone of her voice alone was enough for the nekomata to transform and let her hop on, leaving confused looks on everyone’s faces as she went.
He almost…
He almost saw her…
Do that.
Oh, she knew exactly what he would say: everybody poops. It wasn’t like Miroku didn’t loudly declare it when he’d had sake or Sango didn’t quietly ask for Kagome to spot her. But this… was different.
This wasn’t a human with a human sense of smell and hearing.
This wasn’t even Shippō, who was demonic but also a kid.
It was Inuyasha.
With his supernatural nose and ears (cute, but also superhuman).
He would be able to hear and smell everything she was doing.
Until recently, he had been aloof, not really paying attention when Kagome snuck out into the forest to take care of business. But suddenly, after, well, after the kidnapping, he was everywhere she looked. Hovering.
At least the excuse that she might get kidnapped by some demon would be gone on her side of the well and she could… well, she could finish what Inuyasha had so rudely interrupted.
Because she really really needed to.
He’d been hovering for days now. And Kagome had just… made sure that she took trips to the latrines in villages that they’d passed. This time, though, it seemed like there was nothing but trails and forests between them and their destination.
And Kagome would not lie. She loved modern plumbing. She loved the bidet and its warm water settings on her home’s toilet. She loved the plush toilet paper and just… the flush.
It was one of those things that always reminded her that she was home, that there were things in the modern world that could never be replicated in the feudal era that she ventured to with every free moment she had.
But the modern world did not have Sango, or Shippō, or Miroku. And even as, when Kagome let herself give in to her deepest dreams, she knew that Inuyasha could not exist safely and comfortably there. Because modern times had forgotten that demons were real.
But that afternoon, she did not need to think about that.
That afternoon, Kagome needed simply to relieve herself of the contents of her large intestine.
(And maybe she’d take a nice long bath, for good measure.)
“Thanks, Kirara.” Kagome hugged the fire cat and nuzzled her scruff as Kirara set her gently on the edge of the well, then waved goodbye as the cat took back to the sky, to return to Sango.
Finally, Kagome would be able to finish what she’d started. And unlike the unceremonious squat in the forest, she could actually use and appreciate the modern appliances that every moment in Sengoku Jidai reminded her that she did not have access to.
What Kagome did not know, unfortunately, was that a flash of red and silver was hot on her tail. True, Kirara was faster than a hanyō, but Inuyasha was a hanyō on a mission: a hanyō who would never let Kagome out of his sight again.
It was unbecoming a woman to groan in relief after doing what Kagome had just done. But when the little jingle played and she felt that refreshing splash of warm water, well, it was pleasant.
The knots that had twisted from her battle with her bowels had all been relaxed, and Kagome simply gazed upon her bathroom dreamily.
Yes, a bath would do her good.
“Hey Inuyasha, I didn’t hear you come in!”
No.
No No No No NO NO NO.
“O-su-wa-ri.” Kagome enunciated every single syllable, because she wanted to be sure that if this was not a joke Sōta was playing, if Inuyasha really was currently sitting directly outside of her bathroom, she would know.
The answering grunt told her everything she needed to know.
Kagome shrieked as she quickly took care of the end of her business. The mirror told her that she was beet red as she washed her hands. And… she didn’t want to come out.
Why the hell had he followed her to her house?
Why was he sitting outside the bathroom while she pooped?
Why could she not get away from the hanyō for one goddamned second because she really really didn’t want him hearing her body do that?!
Kagome took a deep breath.
She had hoped he would understand. Had hoped that he would leave her be and understand that certain activities were not for others to witness, but no. Nope. She actually had to have that conversation with him.
It was almost as mortifying as when Inuyasha declared that she always smelled funny during certain times of the month when she acted like the biggest bitch (boy howdy did she osuwari him into the ground after that one…).
Kagome opened the door to see the pretzeled hanyō, glaring mutinously up at her, still under the power of the sit command.
Okay. Maybe she had overreacted.
“Uh, s—sorry… Inuyasha.” Kagome looked down at the pained and angry eyes of her friend and hoverer.
“What the fuck is your problem, anyway?!” Inuyasha snarled, finally righting himself.
“Want to come into my room, and we can talk?” Kagome sighed.
“You gonna say the word again?” Inuyasha dusted himself off, his eyes still mutinous.
“Um, no,” Kagome answered, feeling the heat of her blush come to her face.
Yeahhh, she had overreacted.
But she also was not excited about having a conversation with Inuyasha about pooping.
Inuyasha, for his part, was confused. And embarrassed. Because… he’d been panicking as he ran. He didn’t say it, but images of something swooping out of the sky and grabbing Kagome kept flashing through his mind. It drove him forward, drove him through the well, up to her window, and finally to the place her scent was strongest.
Why the hell had she felt the need to sit him?
He also liked the way the toilet thing felt when he used it (Sōta had to explain how a toilet worked, through fits of giggles—Inuyasha still didn’t get it…).
Inuyasha dragged his feet as he trailed behind Kagome. He didn’t want to tell her that every time he could not see her, smell her, sense her, the panic that hit him was so intense that he nearly lost his mind.
Sure, it was partially because that devil child took her, but if he were being honest, it had happened before that.
Was it the time that the witch bitch took her?
No. It was before that too.
Because before Inuyasha knew it, the idea of not seeing Kagome ever again had become his greatest fear.
Kagome sat down at her desk; Inuyasha followed her, thought better of it, then plopped himself down on her bed.
“So…” Kagome wrapped her arms around her body; she could do this! She still remembered the way Sōta could not string a sentence together without laughing for at least a day after he taught Inuyasha how to use a toilet. “We need to talk about… boundaries.” Inuyasha’s ears shot backward. He looked like he’d been kicked. Kagome was definitely going to have to explain what she meant. “There are… some things… that people do that they need… privacy… to do.”
Wait. Was this not about the hovering but about… about…
“Is this about you pooping?” It was making sense suddenly. Kagome never seemed to mind him being around her most of the time. “So if I just give you space when your gut starts making the poop sounds—”
“YES.” Kagome really really didn’t need Inuyasha to finish that sentence. “Yes.”
“Oh.” Inuyasha wrung his hands in his lap, and a blush brushed his nose. “I… I didn’t know that pooping was another thing that you’re embarrassed about…”
“Of course I am, Inuyasha!” Kagome squeaked. “It’s… it’s a private thing that… that I don’t want anyone to—well… to listen to that… especially…” god, this was hard, “especially you.”
“It’s just poop,” Inuyasha shrugged; he couldn’t understand why Kagome always got so embarrassed talking about it. He’d smelt her poop. It proved she was eating a healthy and balanced diet. Same as Sango and Miroku…
“Well, when it’s you, it… it doesn’t feel like—” Kagome hid her eyes, but Inuyasha could hear the racing of her heart, “just… poop.”
“Why not?” Inuyasha asked the question before he could stop his mouth.
Because asking meant hoping. Hoping that, poop wasn’t just poop because Inuyasha was… something more than… well, that he meant to her what she meant to him.
“How about we start with you telling me why, all of a sudden, you’re everywhere I go, so I can’t poop in peace any longer?” Kagome crossed her legs; damn, she'd absolutely turned this one back around on him.
“Uh…” It was Inuyasha’s turn to blush.
But Kagome was sitting there talking to him about poop. The least he could do was be honest.
“The… infant and Kagura got you,” Inuyasha murmured. “All because my stupid ass wasn’t watching carefully enough. Was chasin’... the wrong things.” His voice became smaller—impossibly small. “I… I’m scared. Was scared. That I am gonna lose you and—”
Inuyasha stopped speaking: the thought of losing Kagome was so insurmountably terrifying that he couldn’t take being away from her, not even for a second. But he couldn’t say it, not out loud, because if he said it out loud, the kami would find a way to take her from him.
But at least he could look in her eyes, and he could hope that she could read the true source of his fear in them. Which, as luck would have it, Kagome did.
In Inuyasha’s eyes laid the rest of the riddle. It was that lingering look that he’d been giving Kagome since he’d freed her from the infant. The one that he thought he hid, the one that came to his face when he thought she wasn’t looking.
The one that said it all.
That Inuyasha cared as deeply about her as she did about him. And that, like her, the thought of losing the other was their deepest and darkest fear.
Kagome smiled, because even without the words, she now understood the most important thing about the hanyō who held her heart, even if neither of them were ready to put words to what it all meant.
“Tell you what, Inuyasha.” She crossed the room, and took his hands into hers. “I promise never to stray too far when… when I need to poop. So you can always rescue me.” She was blushing again, but… well… vague love confessions and poop made strange bedfellows. “But please stay out of sniffing distance when I do—do that.”
“Keh…” Inuyasha nodded, smiling brightly at the sense of relief that came over Kagome’s face.
He didn’t think now was a good time to tell her that he could always smell her poop, and… that he didn’t even really mind the smell.