Stray

(A/N - I apologize for not uploading a chapter last week! @_@ It seems my description is now false advertisement. XD; But this is the last numbered chapter. :D

@kitkat: I had fun writing it too, so I'm glad you enjoyed reading it! :3

@pumpkinpi: Thanks for the review! Here is the more you were looking forward to! XD)

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Chapter 7 - Stay

 

A few weeks later, the trees were starting to blossom. The mating time had passed and the den was usually empty with wolves out on patrols or hunting for food. Inuyasha’s membership in the tribe showed in the way he dressed. For his loincloth, his hakama were shortened to cinch at the knees instead of the ankles. For his dou, the sleeves were detached from his red jacket, and he stopped wearing his kosode, freeing his shoulders and arms. He wore Ayame’s leggings, minus the foot wraps, and a pair of arm bracers standard for the adult males. He finally fit in. He was finally happy. For the first time in his life, he was truly accepted.

 

A small hut had been erected above the falls to act as a trading post with their partners, to save the farmers from driving their carts down the narrow road beside the river, and also to keep the less-than-diplomatic wolves from having fresh meat brought into their home.  It had been Inuyasha’s idea, and since Kouga was busy dealing with internal matters, the hanyou took it upon himself to man it.

 

Being such a prominent figure, the private life of an alpha is common knowledge. They can see who his mate is. The guest room in the den was empty. Inuyasha and Kouga went to bed together. No announcement needed to be made, and no public displays were required. When wolves stay together after mating season, their status is just known - those who left the pack and those who joined the pack. These were the facts and they were accepted by everyone, without question, as they always had been...



Except, that is, for Kanta and Ayame.

 

Inuyasha was sorting goods that had just arrived at the outpost when he heard someone else enter. “Yes? How can I help you?” he asked as he stood.

 

Ginta stood in the doorway. “Inu-kun?” the silver and black-haired wolf asked.

 

Inuyasha smiled and leaned on the counter. The nickname was growing on him after all. “I’m gonna have to have Kouga’s ass for that later.” Or the other way around.

 

“Well…” Ginta fidgeted. “You might want to wait a while for that…” He lowered his head. “I don’t think he needs any more conflict right now.”

 

Inuyasha’s ears perked. “Conflict?”

 

Ginta clasped his hands and raised his eyes. “Kanta.”

 

“Dammit!” He pounded the counter. He made his way quickly around to the front of the hut. “Watch this until I get back!” he said on his way out the door.

 

“Uh-okay?” Ginta half-said.

 

-------

 

Kouga stood, crossed his arms, and grimaced. “Didn’t you try this already?” he asked, blue eyes glaring down from the dais.

 

Kanta beamed smugly. “That was before.”

 

“Before what?”

 

“Before you mated with that mutt,” the hulking wolf said with derision.

 

Kouga scoffed. “No one here cares about that! Haven’t for years!”

 

“Actually,” Ayame’s voice cut in from nearby, “they do.” She emerged from the passage leading to the dais.

 

“Oh, come on!” Kouga said. “Since when?”

 

Ayame grinned. “You see, Kanta and I have something that you and Inuyasha never will.” She placed her hands gingerly over her lower stomach and looked down at it, her gaze softening. “We need to be examples, Kouga. We need to show our people how to live, how we survive, what it means to be a wolf.”

 

“I thought you were happy for us,” Kouga said. “Inuyasha told me you were happy.”

 

“I was,” she said. “I am happy.” She smirked and glared up at him. “I can have my people back now. With a family at the top. The way they should be. The way we should have been.”

 

Kouga huffed, his pulse quickening. “How dare you…” He broadened his stance and crouched slightly, gathering his fury inside him and releasing it in a powerful howl. “Let’s ask them about that.” Wolves filtered into the main chamber.

 

“Kouga!” Inuyasha’s voice preceded him in the hall as he arrived, panting for breath. Kouga and Ayame looked down at the hanyou. Kanta looked down at him despite standing right beside him. Inuyasha sized up the wolf in return. “I thought so,” he spat.

 

“You lose, bitch,” Kanta spat back.

 

“What was that?”

 

“You heard me,” Kanta said, tossing his head back. “You take it from Kouga, and that makes you a bitch. And those women’s furs don’t help things any.”

 

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

 

“Your leg furs.” Kanta laughed. “Why do you think Ayame gave those to you?”

 

“I oughta…” Inuyasha planted his feet, spread his arms, and flexed his fingers, bringing his claws to bear.

 

Kanta smiled broadly. “Are you challenging the new alpha, bitch?”

 

“Feh! You’ve gotta be the one with the balls to be the alpha,” Inuyasha quipped. Kanta growled and swung a punch at the hanyou, but Inuyasha was ready and jumped back.  “And I’m not just going to stand here while my mate is up there on the dais!” Inuyasha yelled over the din of the growing crowd. He turned and ran to the nearest tunnel.

 

Kanta ran to the opposite side of the  chamber.

 

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“Let’s end this once and for all,” Kouga said to Ayame before turning to the assembled pack. “My wolves!” Kouga’s voice boomed. The crowd quieted. “I have been issued a challenge by my own wife. She says that you all feel that I am no longer an appropriate leader for all of us. I know all of you are accepting people. You’ve embraced Ginta and Hakkaku, and I know that some of you enjoy some, let’s say, alternative breeding partners apart from your mates. This isn’t unusual. And almost all of you ensure yourselves that your children grow up to continue the fruitfulness of this den.” He spread his arms plaintively. “You don’t need your leader to be an example for this. I have provided for this den for so long. I have ensured our safety, I have protected us from human expansion – we are prosperous! We are more secure than we’ve been since before the days of Naraku!” A rumbling went up from the wolves below.

 

“All of those things we could have under our leadership.” Ayame’s voice pierced the air and quieted the muddled crowd. “To think that I am incapable of all the same as well as providing an example is nothing but looking down on me for being female. I have watched you. I have advised you. I know every facet of this den’s operations. But you also failed months ago in your negotiations with the nearby human village. You fail providing an example for our children and our trading partners of what kind of tribe we are. You failed years ago in introducing ‘marriage’ to us all. I don’t think anyone here can tell me what that even means. You told us all it was what merged my tribe and your pitiful pack, told me that it would bring us together like we were mates…” She sniffed. “You told me it would make my dreams come true!” She howled mournfully, and some wolves below echoed it – the females first, their pups second, the mates third.

 

Kouga took a deep breath. It was pitiful, but it was working. She was persuasive. She was powerful, and Kouga always knew it. He spoke to her. “I thought we had an agreement. I thought you understood. I thought you respected me telling you the truth.”

 

She snarled at him. “And what you never understood was that you took advantage of me. You took advantage of my position of my weakness for you, so I took advantage of your trust. As it turns out, in the end, I have to look out only for myself and my people.”

 

“Well, to be honest, I can’t say I didn’t expect this.”

 

Ayame smiled. “Then you are ready for what happens next?”

 

“I am.” Kouga smiled in kind. “But are you?”

 

She scoffed as Inuyasha arrived on the dais. “Is that supposed to scare me?” she asked. “You’ve done nothing I can’t do!”

 

“It should,” he said, turning to leave. “C’mon Inuyasha.” He clapped a hand on the hanyou’s shoulder as he passed.

 

Inuyasha turned after him. “But she-“

 

Kouga turned back and put his hands on Inuyasha’s shoulders. “C’mon.”

 

“Kouga, you can’t just-“ Inuyasha pleaded.

 

He kissed his mate. “Trust me, Inuyasha, I had to. I’ll explain. There was no other way.” He gripped one of Inuyasha’s wrists and pulled the hanyou along.

 

Inuyasha was jerked off balance and stumbled along behind the wolf demon. “Kouga!”

 

“She got us this time. She cornered us. We need to get our things and get out.” He led Inuyasha briskly through the tunnels. “At least she waited until spring arrived. We’ll have a couple seasons to find a new home and settle in.”

 

“We what?” Inuyasha tried to keep up with Kouga’s pace both physically and mentally. “We don’t have long. We can’t hang around here. Trust me, I know how this works. I’m sorry Inuyasha. I don’t know where we’re sleeping tonight.”

 

“Will you stop pulling me around?” Inuyasha asked, yanking his wrist away, rubbing it. “I can follow you on my own. And will you stop compelling me to trust you? You don’t have to do that.”

 

“Sorry, I just don’t want you thinking we have a choice. I just need to get Ginta and Hakkaku and we’ll be off.” They drew nearer to the pair’s quarters.

 

Kouga had a point. “Ginta’s watching the post for me. Should I go get him?” Inuyasha asked.

 

Kouga nodded. “Yes, you probably should. Fill him in on what happened. He’ll understand.”

 

“Right. Will he need to come back to get anything?”

 

Kouga laughed. “Do you need to get anything? Do I need to get anything?”

 

Inuyasha pondered that for a moment. He really didn’t have anything to get. He arrived with nothing but the clothes on his back and Tetsusaiga at his side. Kouga’s quarters were bare except for the bed, which they certainly couldn’t take with them. As for Inuyasha’s clothes, there was the matter of his unused sleeves. He’d removed them in order to fit in, to show his good faith in joining the tribe. “My sleeves,” he said. “I want them back. If I can’t be a part of this tribe, what’s the damn point?”

 

Kouga stopped and turned on his heel.  Inuyasha almost ran into him. “You are still a part of my pack,” he replied as he stared at Inuyasha’s chest with a bit of a pout on his face, grabbing the lapel of Inuyasha’s now-tunic. “You are still a part of my tribe.” He tugged a bit and lightly punched Inuyasha’s chest. “And this is how we dress.”

 

Inuyasha nodded. “I’m sorry. I got it.” He raised his hand, closed it around Kouga’s, and the wolf’s grip lightened. He lowered it. “I’d still like the fabric. It might prove useful as a sack or blanket or pillow or something.”

 

“Okay,” Kouga assented. “I’ll get them. Just go get Ginta.”

 

“We’ll meet at the post?”

 

Kouga nodded again. “Sure.” With that, the two parted.

 

The kiss just outside the dais lingered oddly on Inuyasha’s lips. He felt connected to Kouga, trusted him completely, was confident he’d made the right choice, but the change of season must have had some kind of effect on him. It was too casual, perhaps, too forward. Or maybe it just wasn’t exactly the time to be all mushy. Regardless, Kouga was the demon he wanted to stand beside him from here on out. Somehow Kagome had gotten her wish.

 

Kagome… he deigned to think of her briefly during mating season, but what now? He owed her his thanks, and while he knew that she must feel it, it wasn’t quite enough. He needed a final goodbye, and with that thought, he knew some piece of their plan after leaving – they had to go back to the village. Everyone that knew him would wonder what happened to him. They’d probably hate the changes in him, but he didn’t care. They may not like it, but this was between him and Kagome and Kouga. No one else mattered. No one else ever did, when he thought about it.

 

He arrived at the outpost and shared the news with Ginta. The wolf listened eagerly and didn’t flinch. His loyalty empowered Inuyasha further. They’d survived with Kouga through the terror of Naraku, so they could handle anything. Inuyasha had done the same with his friends, and now they were both kinsmen with each other.

 

 Kouga and Hakkaku weren’t far behind. The pairs met, the mohawked wolf rushing to his mate as Inuyasha and Kouga stood side by side, heads turned and staring into each other’s eyes as parents ushering their family into an uncertain next chapter in their lives but confident it would be a short journey to better times.

 

-------

 

It took a week to reach Inuyasha’s old village, and he grew increasingly nervous as they drew nearer. He hadn’t seen it in nearly six years, and while it didn’t seem long to the hanyou, he knew how much of a difference it made in human lives. He wondered if Shippo was any less whiny, how Rin’s charges were faring at the temple, what came of Miroku and Sango’s great-grandchildren that were coming of age soon after his departure. They would likely have children of their own by now, and Inuyasha had none to speak of.

 

He and Kagome had another agreement – to not muddy the mystical blood in her veins nor taint any further the demon blood in his - for fear of the effect of either as they developed in her womb. Instead, they treated the entire village as their family as Kouga did his pack. Perhaps one day, to help repopulate the pack, he and Kouga would breed with females and keep the pups. He would like that.

 

But for now, the village awaited. He recognized the paths, streams, and paddies around him and decades of memories flooded him, from the overly sentimental to the sweetly mundane. He took a deep breath, trying to exorcise the last of the shrinking knot of doubt in his chest.

 

Ginta and Hakkaku followed the pair silently. They weren’t their usual selves; it seemed Inuyasha’s melancholy was contagious. They were aware why they were here, which certainly couldn’t have helped. They missed Kagome too, after all.

 

Kouga put his arm around Inuyasha as they walked. “Nervous?”

 

“A bit, yeah,” Inuyasha replied. “I left without really saying goodbye, not that there was much of anyone left to say goodbye to, and now I come back looking the part of the wolf demon with you as my new mate.”

 

Kouga furrowed his brow. “You’re worried?”

 

“I’m not sure if I’m returning home of if I’m just visiting some village.”

 

“You’re with me,” Kouga said with a smile. “Of course you’re home!”

 

Inuyasha scowled. “Just saying things like that doesn’t change anything.”

 

“Well, I’m here regardless.”

 

“Much better.”

 

There were new huts and houses along the road, and Inuyasha was glad to see the village was still expanding. It too had grown up without him.

 

“You know,” Inuyasha began, “never mind. You’re right. This isn’t my village anymore. Let’s do this and get out.”

 

Kouga looked concerned. “If that’s what you want to do, Inuyasha.”

 

“It is.”

 

As they made their way to the village center, Kouga noticed something unusual – even more unusual and amazing because it had taken so long to notice - there were demons living here, too. Together with the humans, without the separation of fear, interacting, smiling together. The two groups blended together so well they were indistinguishable at first glance. It was such a far cry from the treatment he was used to: the clearing of streets, peering from windows, and points of spears. These were the more human-looking kind of demons, or at least demons assuming their most human-like form, but it was still impressive.

 

Even a demon like him could make his way here.

 

“Inuyasha?” a shrill voice pierced through the crowd. Kouga couldn’t tell if it was male or female. His mate’s ears perked. “Inuyasha, is that you?” Whoever they were, they sounded happy to see him.

 

Inuyasha looked around for anyone familiar that could sound so young, and he spotted the fiery orange hair weaving its way quickly through the sea of strangers. He beamed. “Shippo!” He wasn’t quite sure where the smile came from, and his initial excitement quickly inverted to fear.

 

“Inuyasha!” Shippo bounced up to the hanyou, his tail waving excitedly, before taking note of his outfit, then his traveling companions. “And… Kouga?” The fox’s brow furrowed.

 

Kouga’s hackles raised, and he cocked his hip and raised his chin. “In the flesh.”

 

“Inuyasha, what happened?” Shippo asked tentatively.

 

He was let down that he got the reaction he was expecting, and he hadn’t even mentioned being mated to Kouga yet. “I joined the wolf tribe,” Inuyasha added matter-of-factly.

 

“I see…” Shippo trailed off. “You were gone so long, I started wondering if you were okay.”

 

“Well, I am. And don’t worry, we’re just passing through,” Inuyasha said. "I thought I’d stop by.”

 

“Oh, no!” Shippo said, frantically waving his hands. “That’s not what I meant! It’s good to see you!”

 

Inuyasha looked around. “Yes, and it’s good to see the town doing so well without me, too,” Inuyasha said.

 

Shippo nodded. He knew this tone, and his head sank in defeat. “It hasn’t ever stopped growing,” he said. “It’s one of the few places where humans and demons seem to be able to live together.” He hesitated before adding “Because of you, Inuyasha.”

 

Inuyasha shrugged. “Feh,” he scoffed. “See you ‘round sometime.” Inuyasha continued across the square, the wolves following close behind. Ginta and Hakkaku smiled and bowed at Shippo as they passed.

 

“Yeah…” Shippo said softly, his shoulders sinking.

 

Kouga sighed after they left the crowd. “That was abrupt,” he said.

 

“I just want to get this over with,” Inuyasha said.

 

“Wasn’t that your friend back there?” Kouga asked.

 

“Yeah,” the hanyou muttered as he steamed.

 

“Funny. I couldn’t tell from the way you were snapping at him,” Kouga said.

 

Inuyasha spun around. “You got something you wanna say?” He prodded Kouga’s dou with his claw.

 

Kouga stood confident. “Yeah. I haven’t seen you like this since the Naraku days. What the hell has gotten into you?”

 

“Did you see how he looked at us and talked to us?” Inuyasha asked. “I don’t want to stick around any longer than I have to when the only other person I know here is going to treat me like that.”

 

Kouga put his hands on Inuyasha’s shoulders. “Hey, calm down, okay?” His eyes pleaded with Inuyasha’s, and he took the first momentary softening he was granted. “It wasn’t that bad. And if you gave him the chance he’d apologize.”

 

Inuyasha’s eyes lowered in thought.

 

“Not that you’d apologize back to him anyway,” Kouga added with a sigh. “Inuyasha, I don’t know where or how either of us are going to make any new friends anymore. I think I’d at least make sure to hang onto the ones I’ve got.”

 

Inuyasha’s stubbornness met its immovable object, and hearing Kagome’s words from Kouga’s mouth brought him crashing back to his senses. He shook off the impact. “Wow. I… don’t know what came over me.”

 

“That dumb ‘fear’ thing you inherited,” Kouga provided.

 

Inuyasha took a deep breath to center himself. “I suppose so.” He took a look back toward the bustling square. He’d have to find Shippo later. But he truly didn’t want to stay any longer than he had to. If he lingered, regardless of how small his connection to the village was anymore, he may not want to leave. But then again, he realized, it was already too late for that. “I’m going to go on ahead,” he said. “You guys wait here for a bit and we can be on our way.”

 

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Kagome’s grave was right next to the well, away from the cemetery where the rest of the townspeople were buried. The idea of the town even having a cemetery was relatively foreign to Inuyasha. After Kaede died, the village was small enough and most of the other initial settlers were close enough to Kagome’s age that there wasn’t even officially an area set aside for that purpose for a few more decades, after the rest of that first generation began to perish.

 

The well itself acted as her grave marker – who else should be buried at the Higurashi Well? And how else should the shrine around it have come by its name in the first place? - and Inuyasha knelt before it, alone, as he had so many times waiting for her to return to his era during Naraku’s terror. There were moments during those days he wondered if she ever would come back. This time he knew she wasn’t. And this time he was the one coming back to her.

 

He began by telling her as much, and continued. “But this is the last time, too,” he said. “Thank you for everything. I’m still not sure exactly how I’ve pulled this off, and I’m sure it’ll shock you, but I’m mated again. To Kouga now. He’s a great guy. I know he always treated you well. He treats everyone well.” He paused, unsure what else to say. “Everything was great with you. We loved each other. And I owe you so much for that.” He felt like he should be crying, or at least a little upset, but he was calm. It was unsettling. “I’m sorry I can’t say I miss you more than I do. I mean, I miss you a lot. I always will. Your smile, your laugh, your touch. But…” While his head played back their times together, his heart was simply quiet. No, not ‘simply’ quiet. Content. He smiled. “But we were great. Amazing, the things we accomplished together.”

 

There was a rustling behind him and he snapped his head around.

 

Kouga stood at the edge of the clearing with a carefully arranged bunch of flowers. He crossed over to the well and laid it in on the ledge.

 

“How long have you been standing there?” Inuyasha asked.

 

“Not long at all,” the wolf replied, kneeling beside him and bowing his head. “I just figure I should pay my respects as well.” He clasped his hands in front of him and closed his eyes.

 

Inuyasha continued addressing Kagome’s spirit silently. Despite his initial flare at Kouga’s company, he felt even more comfortable with the wolf there. Despite his eyes being closed, he felt Kouga’s proximity, a certain soothing warmth that he felt all along the side of his body.  Kagome had always fought for fairness and acceptance, and seemed to get along well with Ginta and Hakkaku, so the fact that he and Kouga were both males would surely not have been an issue for her.

 

Kouga’s thanks were quick and sincere, and after spending a moment enjoying the silence of the three of them together, watching his mate calmly meditating, he spoke. “We don’t have to leave, you know. We could settle here, the four of us.”

 

Inuyasha shook his head, then opened his eyes and stared off into the forest. “I don’t want to. There’s nothing left for me here. There are hundreds more people in this village now. My memories of it are a shadow of what it is today.”

 

“You don’t honestly believe that, do you?” Kouga asked. “It doesn’t have to stay that way. You took my den from how I always knew it and brought it to a place where it could trade with human villages! You aren’t some kind of relic; you’re always growing. You made me grow. All we have to do is keep going.”

 

“Kouga…” Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

 

Kouga reached over and squeezed Inuyasha’s leg. “I know you miss it. I saw the way you looked as we drew closer. I felt it. The village may not the same, but it still feels like home to you, doesn’t it?”

 

Inuyasha’s conflicting sides wrestled for a long moment before he gave up and nodded in concession. “What would we do here?”

 

“The same thing we did before. We hunt and trade. We just live in a hut instead of a cave.”

 

“You sure formed that plan fast.”

 

“It’s what we do. We have to think on our feet.”

 

“You wolves are awfully impulsive.”

 

Kouga grinned. “I know.” He leaned in close to Inuyasha. “Hasn’t steered you wrong yet, has it?”

 

Inuyasha glanced at him from the corners of his eyes and smiled. “Nope. Just got you banished from your tribe is all.”

 

“Okay then.” Kouga kissed the hanyou’s cheek and stood. “Sounds like we have a plan.”

 

Inuyasha offered a quick goodbye and stood as well. “Yes, sir.”

 

Kouga raised an eyebrow. “’Sir?’”

 

“You’re the alpha, right?”

 

“It seems to depend on the night,” Kouga quipped.

 

“It does, yes.” Inuyasha smirked knowingly.

 

Kouga smiled. “Well then.”

 

And the pair disappeared into the trees, their laughter and discussions of where they’d sleep that night and who they’d contact the next day fading back to the clearing until the only sound left was the rustling of the leaves in the spring air.