Bloodborne Duties
An ancient curse was placed upon the Inuyoukai family: if the youngest born heir does not produce an heir-apparent before his 205th birthday, the Dogs will surrender to the Panthers. Inuyasha is the youngest heir and it is his duty to avoid the curse.
The entire village lined up and applauded as Inuyasha walked into the village with Kagome still in his arms (she was asleep, but was beginning to stir with the noise of the applause). He had a broad grin on his face; spotting Sango and Miroku at the very end of the line of people, he broke into a light jog and slowly came to a halt in front of them. Kagome was still sleeping.
"You did it," Sango breathed. She wanted to throw her arms around Inuyasha and Kagome and thank them till she gave birth. Inuyasha smiled.
"We did."
"Was it tough?" Miroku inquired as the four of them headed towards Miroku and Sango's hut so that Inuyasha could put Kagome down to sleep comfortably in a futon.
"Yes and no." Inuyasha responded. "It wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be but it wasn't easy either. In the end, it was Kagome's idea on how to kill the bastard."
"How'd you do it?"
Inuyasha placed Kagome on the futon and sat down beside her as his two friends took their places on the floor. Sango was beaming proudly at the hanyou and Miroku couldn't help the gigantic grin that was now permanently stuck to his face. "The idiot had the jewel embedded into his pelt and Kagome arrowed it. The thing went into his body, purified and shattered." Inuyasha pushed a stray lock of Kagome's hair off her face before turning back to the two.
"The jewel shards popped out of his body and he was purified. He died as Onigumo but I chopped his head off for good measure."
"Damn," Miroku whistled. "He's
actually gone."
"Yeah." Inuyasha nodded "Although we both still have to find the rest of the shards…
again."
Sango snorted. "Yeah well, it's better than trying to find the shards before some crazy psycho takes over all of Japan. Take your sweet time—do you have one shard at least?"
Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah, one remained after the others scattered. We have it." He pointed to Kagome who had it safely tucked into her pocket since her little shard container necklace thing was destroyed in the cave-in. "Although you guys
do know that petty little fuckers are gonna
attempt to destroy the world with the two or three shards that they stumble upon."
Sango giggled. "Yeah
but you two are the destroyers of
Naraku." Her voice turned ominous at the name; playfully of course. "You can take on anybody."
"She's right." Miroku nodded. Inuyasha looked at both his
bare hands and playfully punched his shoulder.
"How's your right hand feel?"
"Complete." Miroku grinned. "You have
no idea how it feels to not have beads wrapped around your hand after doing so for
so long."
"I'm sure you're more excited about the fact that
if you have a boy first it won't suck Sango in," Inuyasha murmured as both adults fell into a sombre silence. That thought scared them for a very long time but they both decided to keep faith in Inuyasha and Kagome. Obviously their faith proved right.
Inuyasha noted their silence. "Where's the runt?"
Miroku was thankful for the change of topic. "Out scouting game with Kirara, they should be back soon."
Inuyasha nodded. "I'm gonna go for a little run, I'll leave Kagome here." He stood up but Sango frowned.
"But you're still injured, Inuyasha?"
"Geez, woman," he snorted. "After spending how much time with me, you
still don't know that I heal faster than
you?"
Sango blushed. "So shoot me with an arrow for caring."
"Will do. I'll pin you to a tree while I'm at it." Inuyasha mumbled sarcastically as he left the hut. Sango rolled her eyes and turned to her husband who couldn't tear his eyes away from his bare right hand in front of him.
"Some people never change," she muttered and Miroku cracked a grin. Although he was staring at his hand, he had heard Inuyasha's sarcastic comment to Sango.
"It's Inuyasha, you know he loves us," Miroku said. "Too bad Kaede wasn't here to greet them, hmm?" He stood up and went to go help his wife up. "She should be back from the neighbouring village soon."
"I sure hope so. Kagome doesn't look
so bad that she needs to be bandaged. Some ointment might help but only Shippo knows where Kaede keeps them." Sango smiled lovingly at her best friend. "They did it."
"They did."
.xx.
Inuyasha sat on the tallest branch that the Goshinboku had to offer. His mind was reeling with everything that happened in the past few days: Kagome wanting to mate with him, him getting her an engagement ring, telling off Kouga, destroying Naraku… and now he was going to mate with Kagome in a few days.
This must be God's way of apologizing for fucking up my childhood so badly, Inuyasha thought dryly to himself, even though a smile toyed on his lip.
Despite the constant fights he and Kagome had on a day-to-day basis, he loved her to death (although he wasn't going to
tell her that yet, not until he was sure of how
she felt in regards to him). He was looking forward to blasting his vocal cords at her every other day for the rest of eternity. He was looking forward to arguing with her on how to raise their pups. He was looking
forward to being beat down by a hormonal pregnant wench. "Dear God, I think Naraku probably hurt me more than I thought he did." Inuyasha rubbed his temples.
He was looking forward to be a mate, a husband and a father. Things he never thought he'd ever achieve in his present lifetime
or the next one. Not even with Kikyo.
I have to ask Sesshomaru about the ketsueki no yūgō no gishiki, Inuyasha told himself
, I don't wanna fuck up the blood fusion with Kagome. Watch I end up killing her 'cuz I said a stupid incantation wrong. He wasn't planning on doing the blood fusion until Kagome was healed. Her body sustained a lot of stress and injuries and the ceremony would only push her body to the limits even further. She would pass out for a few days
at least while she's accepting Inuyasha's blood and if her body is unable to endure that she might just end up dying. "Not for a day or two," he mumbled to himself. "We could probably go to the castle though."
Perhaps going to the castle and discussing the finer details about the ceremony with Sesshomaru while Kagome healed seemed like the smartest thing to do. He'd have to talk about it with Kagome after she woke up—they were
one now and whatever he did, she had to suffer the consequences and vice versa (although they have been suffering consequences for each other for a while now, but now it meant something, they were engaged!).
"INUYASHA!"
The hanyou glanced down to find a beaming Shippo.
"YOU DID IT!"
He didn't even wanna beat down the runt for ruining his quiet time. He jumped out of the tree and Shippo launched at him, hugging him mercilessly. "YOU DID IT, YOU DID IT, YOU DID IT!"
Inuyasha chuckled, surprising Shippo. "Yeah runt," he said. " We did."
.xx.
"And that's how we did it," Kagome finished telling her story late into the night that very day. Kaede had returned from the neighbouring village and shortly after, Kagome had woken up. They told their story
once more but every time they did, it put a smile on their faces.
Naraku was gone.
Dead.
Rotting and burning in hell.
"Child, that is amazing." Kaede beamed. "Ye both did it!"
Inuyasha was leaning up against the hut, his eyes closed and his Tetsusaiga leaning against the wall beside him. He had yet to ask Kagome if she wanted to go to his brother's castle because he didn't want to ruin the happy moment for her. How often could one gloat about destroying the biggest danger known to human and demon-kind? Not often.
"Now what do you both plan on doing?" Miroku asked. Inuyasha cracked an eye open before closing it almost instantly.
"Up to Kagome," he muttered. "I wanted to go to my brother's castle."
A bowl dropped. Inuyasha opened his eyes to see that Sango had dropped her bowl of stew and was staring at him with her jaw dropped. Miroku, Kaede and Shippo donned the same expression. Kagome was happily enjoying her beef stew, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's relationship had ceased to faze her at this point in her life. They were two peas in one pod—one was just hundreds of years older.
"You're
willingly going to Sesshomaru's castle and you refer to him as your
BROTHER?" Sango wailed. "Did you hit your head harder than we thought?"
"No," Inuyasha gruffed. "I just gotta talk to the bastard, that's all."
"But you called him your brother!" Miroku argued. Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched.
"That's because he is…? We do share the same father, believe it or not."
Kagome sighed. "Guys, leave him alone. A lot of stuff happened recently that we're tryna figure out that you guys don't know about. When we clear everything up, we'll tell you." Immediately, the ex shard-hunters quieted down, knowing that what Kagome said was probably true. Miroku got up to clean the mess that Sango's bowl of stew made and Kagome got her another bowl. The very pregnant Sango was very immobile at her stage in the pregnancy.
"When do you wanna leave?" Kagome asked looking at Inuyasha. He shrugged.
"Whenever you're ready. We can restock in your time today if you want?"
"Do we need anything?" Kagome asked as Miroku returned with a damp cloth.
Inuyasha snickered. "Ramen?"
Kaede rolled her eyes. "Ye will be a very happy hanyou when the future arrives and ramen is invented."
"I'm a very happy hanyou
now." Inuyasha shrugged. Kagome and Sango laughed. Shippo left the hut to go play with Kirara since the adults were beginning to bore him.
"We can leave for the castle now?" Kagome knew Inuyasha needed to talk to Sesshomaru about the mating thing. "Then we could go back to my time, restock and relax for a bit?"
Inuyasha shrugged. "Up to you, wench." He cracked his neck. "You're still fucked up from the fight."
"I am fine." Kagome haughtily stated. "Just because I'm human doesn't mean I don't heal at a quick enough pace."
"You don't."
Miroku burst into laughter. "You two are always fighting."
"Shut up!" Kagome and Inuyasha shot at him simultaneously before turning back to each other.
"We leave today!" Kagome roared, standing up.
"We do not!" Inuyasha stood up too.
"Today!"
"No!"
"I said TODAY!"
"And I said no!"
Sango nudged Miroku. "How long till she says the word?"
Miroku crossed his arms. "They'll go back and forth two more times until she says something witty and then makes him kiss dirt."
"I say they'll go back and forth three more times." Kaede added. The three watched their two friends continue to battle it out.
"TODAY!"
"TOMORROW!"
"I SAID TODAY!"
"WELL I'M SAYING TOMORROW!"
"WELL I SAY
OSUWARI!"
Miroku pumped his fist. "I was right! Two times!"
"…
Keh…" Inuyasha mumbled into the ground and Kagome turned to her friends.
"We're leaving for the Western Castle tonight. We'll be back in a few days."
A smile was toying on Sango's lips but she stood up slowly before hugging her friend. "Don't put his back out of commission," she murmured in Kagome's ear. "He's gonna need that to…
you know..."
Kagome blushed. "Shh! You've learned from Miroku's habits." She shook her head. Inuyasha recovered from the spell and glared full force at Kagome.
"WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT?"
"Stop yelling," Kagome waved her hand. "Let's go."
Inuyasha growled. "FINE! But if you feel sick or some shit like that, don't expect me to care."
"I won't," she responded coolly. Miroku sighed and shook his head.
Sango's right, some people never change.
.xx.
"Why do you have to do that?" Inuyasha asked as they walked down the familiar path that they took so many times in the past; except their intention now was to go knock on Sesshomaru's door and not find a jewel shard or two.
"Do what?"
"Sit me."
"Because you're stupid."
Inuyasha was quiet and continued to walk half a step behind Kagome.
"You have to stop," he said softly, which caught Kagome off guard. She, however, maintained her steady walking pace and refused to let Inuyasha know that her left knee was beginning to irritate her. She banged it up pretty bad somehow but what he said earlier still echoed in her mind—even though she
knew he said it out of anger.
"FINE! But if you feel sick or some shit like that, don't expect me to care." Whatever, she said in her head.
My knee will get better... "When you stop being stupid." Kagome responded to Inuyasha's earlier statement.
Inuyasha growled and grabbed her shoulder, whirling her around. The abrupt movement twisted Kagome's legs awkwardly and she winced, falling forward. "
Crap..."
Inuyasha's eyes widened. "The fuck, Kagome!" He caught her around her waist as she fell face first into his chest. "Why the hell didn't you tell me you were hurt!"
"Because you said you wouldn't care," she mumbled into his chest. Muttering a string of curses, he lifted his fiancée up bridal style and stared at her. She hid her face in his arm and he groaned, continuing to walk. He was glad that they
didn't stop by her time to grab supplies, otherwise he'd have a heavy-ass new backpack on his back along with his soon-to-be-mate in his arms.
"I was pissed off, idiot," he muttered. "How the hell can you say that I wouldn't care?"
Kagome didn't say anything and Inuyasha sighed.
"Just rest, wench," he commanded. "We'll talk later."
.xx.
They arrived at the gate and Inuyasha easily jumped over it. A slew of demons started chasing him for "trespassing" but he whirled around and glared at them. "I'm Lord Inuyasha you fucking morons, don't make me bury you alive for your stupid stupidity."
Immediately they backed off, bowing and asking for forgiveness. Kagome giggled—she was feeling a bit better so Inuyasha allowed her to walk slowly beside him. He ran most of the way to the castle and after a lot of begging on Kagome's part, he allowed her to walk the path from the gate to the castle.
"Lord Inuyasha, eh?"
"
Keh." He crossed his arms diligently. "It
is who I am."
"It's cute."
Inuyasha blushed. "Don't call me cute, woman."
"Lord Inuyasha! Lady Kagome!" Daiki's familiar voice echoed before Kagome could retort to Inuyasha. The demon ran towards them and dropped to his knee in a low bow. "It is great to see you both again. What brings you here?"
Kagome looked at Inuyasha. She was waiting for him to respond.
"I need to talk to Sesshomaru," he simply stated and Daiki nodded.
"Understood, my Lord." Daiki stood up. "The Lord Sesshomaru is making rounds in the lands. You both can rest while you're waiting up for him?"
Inuyasha nodded. "Sure, but can you grab a healer for Kagome? Her knee's fucked up."
Daiki looked at Kagome who was holding onto Inuyasha and standing, refusing to put excessive pressure on her leg. Daiki nodded quickly. "Yes, my Lord! I'll go get the medicine witch from the village quickly. Do you know where your room is?"
Inuyasha nodded and dropped to his knees, ushering Kagome to get on. Without word, she climbed onto his back and he stood up again. "Same room as last time right?" Daiki nodded. "Then yeah. Come back quick."
"Yes, my Lord." Daiki ran off.
Inuyasha began walking slowly to his room, the same one he stayed in last time. Except now Kagome would be spending her night in his room as well. Her face was buried in his hair and he could hear her breath and feel her heart beat. A smile toyed on his lips.
"You happy?" he randomly asked. Kagome was surprised at the question.
"Yeah… Why do you ask?"
"Just asking."
Kagome was quiet for a moment before throwing his question back at him. "Are
you happy?"
Inuyasha entered the vicinity of the castle. "Never been happier."
.xx.
Beta-edited: Sakura-chan Master of the Clow
