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“I’m sure another tree would provide more…shade,” Kouga said, using every ounce of self-control to pull away from Kagome. Everything else in him wanted to stay, to linger in her small village and drink in the lines of her face and the smell of her home.
Kagome was relentless. Her grip on his arm and heart were firm, and Kouga couldn’t help but be followed wherever she was kind enough to lead him. “But this is my favorite tree. Aren’t the blooms beautiful?”
Kouga would later admit that yes, the blooms that day were beautiful. The sun filtered through the pink petals and the shadows of the branches danced over his eyes, even as the sun began to set.
As stunning as the day around them was, it paled in comparison to the feel of Kagome’s hair curled around his claws, the warmth of Kagome’s lap under his head and the sight of her blue eyes closing as she bent over him.
“The Wolf’s been coming around a lot…”
Inuyasha watched from his seat, waiting for Kagome to react. It took him weeks to realize that the soft blush she usually wore had been hidden for too long. If not hidden, then possibly just shared with someone else. Her face, lit up by firelight, betrayed nothing, and Inuyasha hated that he wasted an opportunity to probe her for more information, with nothing to show for it.
“A lot of us are moving around a bit more freely…now that there’s nothing to be afraid of…” Kagome said, folding and unfolding the hem of her long sleeve. She was right. Sango and Miroku were traveling to see if a restoration of her old village was possible, and Shippo took advantage of a recent growth spurt to make a tour of some nearby villages, as one was rumored to be home to several fox demon families.
“You could too, if you wanted.” Kagome spoke casually, but her suggestion held as much weight as his initial comment. They danced around the same subject, waiting for the other to move first.
Inuyasha huffed. “I’ve had enough walking for a lifetime.”
“Hmm.”
The fire before them crackled. Kagome dropped her chin and unfolded her sleeve again. Silence enveloped the pair for the rest of the night.
Inuyasha’s nose curled. For days, Kagome had been playing with different herbs, and the smell wafting from her small hut was nearly unbearable. The tips of her fingers were stained bright green from the poultices and potions she created late into the night. HIs nose wasn’t so sensitive to avoid her, but he kept enough distance to keep his senses.
And just enough distance for Kouga to slide in when he wasn’t watching.
Inuyasha wasn’t upset by Kouga’s old declarations. They were annoying, and stuoid, and a little disgusting, but they didn’t bother him. What still did was how Kagome reacted. She would smile somewhat nervously at first, letting him take both of her hands in his as he began some sappy and unnecessary monologue. Over time, she almost came to expect his visits, and she reacted with much less annoyance than Inuyasha was used to. On more than one occasion, he tried to tell Kouga off on her behalf, but she always somehow punished him instead. Inuyasha chalked it up to her being in general, a kind and giving person, even to her own detriment. Since the conclusion of their battle with Naraku, Kouga came around less often, but stayed longer when he did.
Perched in a tree on the outskirts of town, Inuyasha watched the dust cloud grow closer. It cut across the landscape and kicked up pebbles and grass as it moved. He rolled his eyes and prepared for the approaching wolf and the argument that would come along with him.
Kagome was, for her part, tending to a fire just outside of her hut, and stood at the approach. Inuyasha meant to turn from the inevitable meeting, giving himself time before interrupting, in case Kagome wanted to tell Kouga to get lost herself.
It wasn’t that Inuyasha feared that she couldn’t stand up to Kouga. If she wanted, Kagome could strike fear into any man or demon, no matter their size.
Inuyasha wondered, however, if she would.
“What’d he want this time?”
Kagome smiled, before looking at Inuyasha through her eyelashes. “As if you weren’t listening…”
“Hearing ain't listening.”
The sun was beginning to set. Inuyasha tried not to count the hours that Kouga had stayed for this visit, comparing them to his previous ones. “Some of the cubs are getting ear infections.”
Inuyasha was expecting something closer to a plague. Kouga usually spent an hour or so, but this visit was much longer, and Kagome insisted on taking him on a tour around the village. Inuyasha, for his part, had to go out of his way to avoid them, which meant avoiding and watching them at the same time. “Can’t die from an ear infection…”
“No, but they’re not fun either. You wouldn’t want to sleep in a den full of sobbing children all night.” Kagome pocketed a handful of bright purple flowers, and Inuyasha tried to remember if they were medicinal, or possibly a gift from the wolf.
“I wouldn't wanna sleep in a den full of anything .”
“I don’t know…” Kagome began, inspecting her green tipped fingernails. The breeze picked up the loose tendrils of her long hair. “Might be nice.”
“You’re not serious-”
“I think I’m going to turn in early tonight.”
Inuyasha paused, wondering what he’d done this time. “You’re not hungry?”
Kagome paused on the worn path and turned toward her hut. It was relatively new, and the well-trekked route faded out as it approached her home. Inuyasha was sure that in time, it would come to look like all the others; with enough use, the green grass would be worn away and the pebbly soil underneath would reveal itself.
“Not really,” she finally told him. “Have a good night.”
Disappearing into her hut, Inuyasha had the sinking feeling that he’d said something wrong. Such a feeling was usually fleeting, as it was once followed by meeting the ground with enough force to knock him unconscious.
This feeling was unusual and upsetting, and as much as he wanted to follow after her and make Kagome explain it, Inuyasha gave her the space she clearly needed.
“I’ll be back in a few weeks…” Kagome said, looking into her bag as if she’d already forgotten something. Inuyasha wasn’t sure how she could stand to travel with so much…stuff. He reasoned that so long as he wasn’t tasked with carrying it, she could take whatever she wanted.
The fact that he wasn’t invited on her little excursion was only slightly annoying.
“Tell the Monk I said ‘hi’,” Inuyasha said, kicking at a loose pebble that found its way into Kagome’s hut. It was a fair bit smaller than the rest of the huts in the village, and Inuyasha couldn’t imagine sleeping under a roof so small. He preferred the branches of any tree large enough to support him, with the sky over his head as he slept.
Kagome nodded, pulling the mouth of her bag tight, and sighing as it managed to close. The bag pulled one shoulder down, making her walk crooked as she approached him.
Inuyasha looked over her shoulder at the heavy pack, wondering why she was bringing so much to see friends whose hospitality rivaled her own. Anything she would truly need, Sango and Miroku would provide for her, if they could.
“Making any stops?”
Inuyasha didn’t mean to sound quite so accusatory. But the late spring rains kept him from being outdoors as much as he wanted, and the effect on his mood was as foul as the weather. Watching Kagome fight a smile, however, somehow lifted his temper, if only slightly. He knew where her stop would be, who she would see, and that it may delay her trip by some days. He blamed it on the gray days around them, and that the sight of a faint blush sweeping across her nose was a welcome dash of color he hadn't seen in a while.
“Maybe…any salutations to pass on there?” she countered, the twinkle in her eye ready for a challenge.
“Just…take care of yourself.”
Kagome stepped forward, wrapping him in a hug made a bit awkward by the large bag at her back. Even so, it was a typical Kagome hug; warm and full of love, lingering with the recipient for long after she released them. “You too.”
Inuyasha watched as Kagome left, waving to a few villagers who waited on the outskirts of town.
Kagome returned, as promised, some weeks later. A few more weeks than Inuyasha was expecting, but maybe she cleverly left out how long exactly she’d be gone. He told himself that he stayed perched in this tree, everyday as the sun set, because it was the best view of the nearby valley, as well as the only place to see oncoming danger. But when Kagome’s form finally came walking over the horizon, Inuyasha was not surprised to find her walking alongside someone.
Had she come alone, Inuyasha would have been shocked, and possibly a little outraged. For all Kouga’s talk about making Kagome his mate and not letting her come to harm, making her walk that distance alone would have made all his declarations moot. The only reason Inuyasha let her set off alone was the knowledge that as soon as Kagome passed outside of the village border, Kouga would find her, and offer to carry her wherever she needed, the ends of the earth included.
Inuyasha tried to muster any lingering jealousy of days past, but could find none.
He wanted Kagome to be happy.
He wanted her to feel fulfilled and appreciated and loved.
He loved Kagome.
Inuyasha was left only somewhat confused by this revelation. He wondered if this was what Kagome felt about him . Granted, he still wanted to fight Kouga on occasion. Kouga was smart-mouthed and quick with an insult, and lived to infuriate him. He was annoying and brash and kicked up dust everywhere he went.
But Kagome, for all her sweetness and kindness and fire, smiled more in the days after Kouga’s visit than Inuyasha had ever seen. When the wolf complained of the sting of her medicines on one of his injuries, Kagome searched through the night for an alternative herb that would deliver the same results without causing him any discomfort. She worried after his pack, especially the children, and from what Inuyasha could tell, the feeling was mutual. The inside of her hut was filled with red clay figurine that they’d crafted for her, drawing scrawled on parchment with clumsy hands, and river-worn stones collected for her in an array of colors and shapes.
Cared for, appreciated, loved. Everything Inuyasha wanted for his friend.
Even if it came from the Wolf.
The pair approached the village, and Kagome immediately set out to look for Inuyasha, Kouga in tow. They went first to the largest tree in the village, working their way around the small area, stopping only to say hello to the villagers who crossed their path.
Inuyasha watched as they drew closer to the tree where he sat, a lush cherry blossom whose branches would be bare in just a few short weeks.
“...I don’t know where he could be…” Kagome whirled around as they neared the tree, as if he would appear from thin air.
“Don’t worry,” Kouga said, steadying her with two hands on her covered shoulders. “I can come back tomorrow. He’s your friend, and you two should talk.”
Kagome sighed, and Kouga’s hands moving down her arms to grasp her hands. “I’m tired of walking…let's sit.”
Kagome pulled Kouga closer to Inuyasha’s perch, and the window of opportunity for him to escape without being noticed was steadily closing. He watched Kouga’s nose twitch, and their eyes met immediately. Inuyasha gripped the branch under him, ready to leap away if needed. Kouga’s eyes bordered on something akin to pity, and Inuyasha wasn’t happy about it. The old voice in his head wanted to pounce from the tree and ask him what exactly he was looking at.
“I’m sure another tree would provide more…shade,” Kouga said, tugging at Kagome gently.
Inuyasha saw the look leveled on Kouga, and knew any denial would be fruitless. Kagome was an assassin when she knew “But this is my favorite tree. Aren’t the blooms beautiful?”
Kouga shot one last look at Inuyasha, and for the first time in their odd friendship, without competition. Kouga took the seat next to Kagome, and almost seemed to regret that she chose the spot right below where Inuyasha sat.
Inuyasha tore his eyes from Kagome and Kouga, and looked at the flowers surrounding him. He picked the tree somewhat at random, but it bloomed to perfection. In a few days, the ground around the tree would be littered with petals, the flowers would drop and carry on the breeze for miles. One had already landed in Kagome's mass of dark hair, and Kouga reached to remove it.
By the time the tree shed its blooms, Kagome would be gone, off to start a new life. The one she deserved, the one that Inuyasha could not give her.
Art by AshMish111
“What was that?”
More petals fluttered to the ground, and Kagome’s hair tumbled from her shoulder as she looked above them. The branch above them shook, and where the shadows once fell over them, the sun came through the canopy and warmed Kouga’s face.
Kouga shook his head, still dazed from Kagome bending to press a kiss to his lips. It was tentative and shy, a perfect ending to her visit with his Pack. They’d embraced her as one of their own, and even though she had to leave to meet her friends, she promised to stay another few days on her way back. Kouga half-expected Inuyasha to burst in, turn the dens upside down, and carry Kagome away at any moment. Every day that passed, Kouga fought the urge to see Kagome as a permanent fixture in the Pack, and every day he lost the fight a little more.
When she asked him to walk her back, before he could even insist, Kouga knew that he had to ask her to stay. Surprisingly, she smiled, took his hand, and said she just had to wrap up a few things. Their walk to her village was long and pleasant, but Kouga still anticipated a fight when he saw Inuyasha. Upon arriving at her home, Kouga was still on high alert, especially as he located Inuyasha by scent alone almost immediately.
When he disappeared, giving them a moment alone, Kouga silently thanked him. There would be time for words later, for them to come to some understanding for the sake of the woman they both loved in different ways.
Kagome looked back at him, her smile spreading across her beautiful face, and their moment returned, shimmering like the sun at her back.
The day was clear and bright, and Kagome was beautiful and willing to be his.
It was perfect.