“Inuyasha, it will be fine”, replied Kagome cheerfully, ignoring her hanyou friend’s grumbling. “We’re not going to stay in the village, I just want to ask if I can trade something in my bag for rice and vegetables. I know you can catch meat for us to eat well enough, but I’m afraid I need to eat more than just that, or I’ll get sick. And then what good will I be?”
They’d just said goodbye to Nobunaga, after helping him rescue Princess Tsuyu, and were on the road again to look for more jewel shards. Kagome had noticed their supplies were getting low when she’d repacked her bag; even with Inuyasha hunting, they still needed other things to eat. Asking if they could buy or trade for more provisions while they were near a village seemed to be a very sensible idea to her, no matter what Inuyasha said. She smiled as she glanced at the pouting face of the hanyou walking beside her, his pointed dog ears flicking in annoyance. They were getting on much better now after their recent adventures, but he could still be such a grump sometimes!
She noticed a woman working in her vegetable garden close by, and approached her with a bright smile.
“Good afternoon”, Kagome said, placing her hands on her thighs and bowing politely. “I’m so sorry to disturb you when I can see that you’re busy, but would you please do me a favour? I was wondering if-”
The woman took one look at them both and ran towards the centre of the village. A bell sounded in the distance.
“Oh my goodness, did I say something wrong? I thought I was quite polite”, said Kagome worriedly, biting her lip.
“I don’t think it was you she was worried about”, Inuyasha muttered dryly. “C’mon, it’s time to go.” He turned to walk back towards the forest.
“But what about getting more food?” protested Kagome, tugging on his sleeve. “Look, she’s coming back. Oh. They don’t look happy.” The mob of villagers storming back along the road holding hoes and axes, and headed by an elderly Kannushi waving his fist made her feel a little uncomfortable.
Inuyasha sighed, rolling his eyes. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you wench”, he said gruffly.
The Kannushi began hurling insults as soon as they were in hearing range.
“Begone foul demons! Remove your depraved souls from this peaceful village! We want none of your sort here!”
“What did you say?!” Kagome reeled back in surprise. This was all so unexpected!
“You heard me the first time!” the old man shouted. “I see through that disguise of yours kijo!” Kagome noticed some of the small children standing in the front gardens of the huts nearby were crying in fright. “I don’t care if you’ve got a collar on that dog of yours, we don’t want an inugami anywhere near this village. Foul disgusting beast, born of black magic! Bringer of disease, sickness, insanity! Cover your ears everyone, so the dog spirit will not be able to possess you! I will protect you!”
When the Kannushi produced an ofuda from his sleeve, Kagome drew an arrow and nocked it on her bow. She was shaking with rage.
“How dare you call Inuyasha that you racist bigoted pig! Apologise! NOW!”
Inuyasha had stood to one side while this had been going on, fists rammed in his sleeves, silent and stoic. But when Kagome leapt to his defence, his eyes widened in surprise.
The Kannushi sneered. “Why would I apologise to a beast!” He flicked the ofuda towards Inuyasha, but before it could reach him Kagome caught it in her outstretched hand, crumpling it in her fist. It disintegrated with a flash of pink light.
“How dare you!” she yelled, stomping her foot. “I’ll have you know that my friend Inuyasha protects humans! He just saved Princess Tsuyu and the Lord of the Musashi domain from a powerful frog youkai, along with hundreds of other girls that were also trapped. How dare you accuse him without knowing anything about him at all! You should be ashamed!”
“Kagome…”, said Inuyasha softly.
She grabbed his hand, tugging on it. “Come on, Inuyasha we’re leaving.”
“Fine by me. I don’t remember wantin’ to be here in the first place.”
Kagome glared over her shoulder at the Kannushi as they began heading down the road that led back towards the forest. “I hope you get a boil on your butt so big you can’t sit down for a week!” she yelled.
🌸🏹🌸
They sat quietly beside the campfire, waiting for the fish to cook.
“No one’s ever done that for me before”, Inuyasha said, breaking the silence. He was staring into the flames, his amber eyes glittering in the darkness. Kagome turned the stick over the fire before the fish could scorch, letting them cook on the other side.
“Done what?”
“Defended me.”
“Oh.” She shrugged. “Well, you’re my friend Inuyasha. Of course I was going to defend you. I’m just sorry I suggested we should go there. He said such terrible things, he made me so angry!”
“I noticed.” He sniggered. “A boil so big that he couldn’t sit down for a week, huh?”
Kagome giggled, placing her hand over her mouth. “Yeah. Not the best insult I’ve ever come up with. I guess I’m out of practice.”
“Keh. Maybe I shoulda offered to shove Tessaiga-”
“Inuyasha!”
He snorted. “Just makin’ a suggestion.”
Kagome rolled her eyes, and went scavenging in her backpack to see what food she had left to go with the fish, then emerged triumphant with a packet of potato chips. He couldn’t help constantly turning her words over in his head. ‘Well, you’re my friend Inuyasha. Of course I was going to defend you.’
He still felt a little wary of her, it hadn’t been that long ago that he’d had his trust broken by another after all. He watched her share out the food equally on the little plates that she kept in that ridiculous yellow backpack, grunting his thanks when she handed him his meal. She looked upwards, smiling at the glittering stars above their heads, then began to eat her meal with gusto. He’d never met anyone like her before.
Maybe, just this once in his life, everything would turn out okay.
Kagome slowly blinked her eyes open and started to make for rolling out of bed. There was a low grumble from the other side of her and a strong arm pulled her back into the cocoon of their futon.
“I have training today!” She giggled but she allowed Inuyasha to pull her flush against his body.
“Mmm, you can skip a day.” His voice was rough from sleep. She shivered as he leaned forward to nuzzle her cheek.
The sun was warm coming in through the window, his body heat even warmer. It certainly made the decision easy to stay in bed all day. After all, how often did they get the excuse of being newlyweds to not do anything?
Here is my first contribution to Inuyasha Sins week! I couldn’t help but draw some fluff for this sin.
Finally done! For the Lust prompt for Inuyasha Sins week, By the Book. This is only going up on AO3, but have a little teaser taste, below the cut.
Inuyasha sat in the fork of a large tree, carefully rifling through the overstuffed yellow backpack and keeping one eye on his sleeping pack below. This felt wrong, but he was desperate for some hint, some clue that would help him to get Kagome to understand that he loved her, and that he craved her love in return.
He’d done everything. He hunted for her, no matter the weather, making sure he presented her with the very best of what was available wherever they camped. He knew she needed the meat to keep her healthy and strong, and he figured if he was hunting for her, he may as well provide for everyone else as well. He skinned and gutted the kills, a task usually reserved for the mate who had not done the hunting, often the task of a youkai female in the pack, especially if she was the one preparing the meal. But Kagome was squeamish about it, and it wasn’t like he cared. He did it for her.
He found her water, fresh for drinking, warm for bathing. Often he took them out of their way because he detected the faint scent of mineral laced water. It was worth it though, just so he could see the pleased smile she gifted him with when he proudly announced that he’d found a hot spring. Every now and then she’d stroke his ear as she passed by as a thank you; he lived for those touches. An ear stroke could keep him going for days.
He carried her bag, fuck, he carried her. Not like that was a hardship. She was tiny, sometimes that backpack she hefted around weighed almost as much as she did. But he eagerly carried both her and the backpack as often as she’d allow it, just so he could feel the soft flesh of her thighs under his palms, feel the whisper of her breath cooling the heated skin of his neck as she spoke to him, smell the sweet scent of her surrounding him, covering his fire rat, embedding itself into the very stitching that held it together, that held him together. And he made sure to rub his wrists over places where his scent would stay – her thighs were an obvious spot, and one only a mate would usually have access to, but he also tried to leave his scent in her hair when he could. If only she’d stop washing it away!
Every youkai they came across recognised that he’d scent claimed her. Even Kouga knew, he was just a try hard loser. The scent claim was half the reason they attacked her, not because she was the weakest, as she often morosely deduced, but in addition to her carrying the jewel shards, which were like a giant ‘come steal this’ beacon, they recognised by scent that she was his chosen mate. Attacking her was a way to gain advantage over his strength and sword, knowing he would never do anything that might harm her. The number of times he’d thrown himself bodily in front of an attack, taking blows meant for her, keh, he’d lost count. But that didn’t matter. He would do anything to protect her. Anything to keep her safe.
Everyone knew she was his. The kit knew, Kirrara knew, even Sango and Miroku had finally got a clue. Everyone, except for Kagome herself.
Tonight had been the last straw. She’d yelled at him, accused him of sneaking off to see Kikyou again. There had been no sneaking involved. Everyone had seen the shinidamachu approaching. Everyone knew what that meant. He’d announced that he’d go and see what Kikyou wanted and that he’d be right back. And he had. It had taken barely half an hour. He didn’t know what Kagome thought he and Kikyou had been able to accomplish in that short amount of time that was worth getting pissy at him about. Frankly, he was a little put out at what that might reveal about her opinion of his stamina.
And then she’d cried. Cried like her heart was breaking, and every tear was a dagger to his own. He’d even suggested she come with him next time, just so she could see nothing happened between him and Kikyou, apart from an exchange of information and good natured wishes for each other’s continued safety. But she’d brushed him off, muttering something about not wanting to be a ‘third wheel’, whatever the fuck that meant.
So now he was reduced to rifling through her bag like a thief in the night while she slept, the dried tear tracks on her cheeks accusing him of infidelity when the opposite was obviously true. He didn’t understand how she wasn’t getting it. How else could he show her how devoted he was to her? She just wasn’t understanding all the traditional youkai courting rituals, so maybe if he tried something more modern that would finally make it click for her.
His hand closed over smooth fabric, still slightly warm. Hesitantly, feeling like the world’s biggest hentai, Miroku notwithstanding, but still unable to stop himself, he brought the panties that she’d been wearing just a few short hours earlier up towards his nose. He inhaled deeply, and her scent was intoxicating, just like he knew it would be. The scent of his sweet girl with the added muskiness of her sex. He opened his mouth, and breathed in, letting the scent wash over the back of his tongue. He felt almost drunk, just from that small taste of her. Fuck, that settled it. He was desperate before, but now he was frantic. There had to be something in here that would help!
Regretfully, he shoved the panties back in her bag before he could be tempted to put them inside his suikan and hoard them like a precious jewel, because Kagome finding him with a pair of her unwashed knickers would not be likely to help his cause, no matter how good they smelled. As he shoved them as far down as he could, his hand closed over something rectangular, but soft and smooth. He drew it out of the depths of her backpack easily able to see it in the embers of the firelight below.
It was a book, much smaller than her schoolbooks. And this was soft and bendy, the thin paper cover glossy, reflecting the moonlight. Mostly her schoolbooks were hard on the outside, and he’d never seen a picture anything like this on the covers of any textbook she’d brought back through the well.
There was a man and a woman. The woman was draped across the man’s lap, seated snugly between his thighs. He was tipping her back slightly, his muscular frame clearly on show for the woman because he was shirtless and flexed. The guy was obviously making an effort to present his strength to the woman he’d chosen. Inuyasha scoffed. Muscles didn’t mean anything unless you actually used them in defence or protection. Was this an example of a mating display from Kagome’s time? The muscle bound poser was gazing down at the woman in his arms like was ready to devour her, his long hair being tossed about by a gentle wind. She was looking up at him with absolute adoration in her eyes, kissable lips parted in expectation, her shirt falling off her shoulder to reveal ivory skin, dark hair tumbling downwards. Inuyasha imagined Kagome looking like that at him, and his heart clenched. What the fuck was this? And why did his wench have it in her bag?
He squinted at the title, finally working out the weirdly written kanji. Built for Sin. He didn’t think this was a schoolbook, and the way it was hidden right at the bottom of her bag, suggested it was something Kagome was keeping secret. He rolled his eyes; with someone like Miroku around, he could understand why. The couple on the cover didn’t look like they had their wires crossed, in fact it looked like the act of mating was imminent, even though they were out in the open, in a clearly unprotected area, with trees behind them that could have contained predators ready to attack at any moment. The guy on the cover was obviously thinking with what was in his pants, and not about protecting his woman. But maybe that was where he was going wrong. Maybe this is what Kagome needed. His more subtle hints at showing her how he could look after and care for her had all failed, maybe she needed more blatant proof of his lust and longing. Settling back with the backpack propped up on his lap so he could return it as soon as any of his pack mates stirred, he began to read.
Behold my (slightly belated) entry for Inuyasha’s Seven Deadly Sins by @lemonlushff, @ruddcatha and @neutronstarchild!
DAY FOUR: GREED
My piece is actually a tiny one-shot branch off that takes place during my story Behind the Silk Screen. That story is done predominantly from Kagome’s P.O.V. so I wanted to take a chance to explore Inuyasha’s thoughts a little bit with this piece. It takes place roughly around the events of Chapter 29/30, though it’s broad enough to understand even without having read the story. I hope you all enjoy it and thanks again to the moderators for putting this challenge together for us all to play with!
Happy Sinning!
Inuyasha had never thought of himself as greedy.
Hell, he’d spent most of his life just trying to scrape by. From the moment he’d born he’d had almost nothing he could call his own. The bastard son, the dirty half-breed. Shunned by the court, the clans, humans, youkai, even his own old man.
For a while he’d had his mother and she...she’d done what she could. Until she couldn’t anymore. It wasn’t her fault. Still, after she’d left a part of him had wished he’d never had her, either. You couldn’t miss something you’d never had.
And so that’s how he’d lived- having nothing and wanting nothing. It was easier that way. Even when his old man had decided to fuck him over one last time by willing him the throne for some kami-forsaken reason, nothing had changed. He was heir to a throne of nothing, somehow even more screwed than he had been before he was named Tennō. So greed had never really been an option for him.
Until now.
Inuyasha reached out, clawed hand hovering just over the face of the woman lying beside him in the darkened room. Her face was relaxed in sleep, a dark sweep of lashes stark against the pale skin of her cheeks. Her dark hair was spread out in a riot of whorls and tangles across her pillow, a few long tendrils slipping forward to drape themselves across her face. Her lips were slightly parted, soft puffs of breath and a thin line of drool escaping them. Inuyasha bit back a grin at the sight. He was pretty sure she still had no idea that she did that.
But he did.
He knew all sorts of stuff about her. He knew that her eyebrows did that weird pinchy thing when she was really working herself up over something. He knew that a lot of the time she forgot to eat when she got too busy and he knew the annoying grumbling noises her stomach would make all day afterwards. He knew how her eyes crinkled around the corners when she laughed when it was just him around. He even knew the little sound she made in the back of her throat whenever he dragged his fangs over her lower lip.
He’d gathered all this and a hundred other tiny things since he’d first met her, though it had taken a while for him to realize that that was what he was doing. But she had been there, had made sure that she was always there, right beside him, and so it hadn’t been so hard to believe after a while that it was just natural. That he wasn’t hoarding these scraps, clutching at them as if he could keep them all for himself.
Until the moment he’d overheard them and realized that maybe he wasn’t the only one doing it.
The thought of that fucking flea-bitten wolf having been with her when she was outside of the court, having maybe had the chance to hear that annoying stomach grumble or to see how messy her hair always was in the first light of day or to feel the almost burning warmth of her lips pressed against his...the thought that he might know all the things Inuyasha knew about her, might even know more, was enough to crack something within the hanyou that he hadn’t even known was there.
Inuyasha grimaced, withdrawing his hand to rest between them on the futon. Just the memory of that feeling, that disgusting mix of bone-deep rage and gut-churning terror, was enough to make his skin crawl. He had snatched her up on pure instinct, some urge in him snarling that if he could just separate her from the wolf then he could take back all those pieces that were his. That he could find new pieces, pieces that she would share with only him.
And somehow he had. The memory of that night still sent a mixed heat through him, the warm desire of it tinged with shame. He had been pathetic, desperate, grasping at her with both hands. And she’d still reached back, opened her arms and her body to him in a way he was sure she’d never done with anyone else. She’d willingly given him more pieces of herself- the feeling of her weak human nails digging into the skin of his back, the taste of her tongue sliding against his own, the strangled sound of his name on her lips as he moved inside of her.
And it still wasn’t enough.
Because then she had left. Then she had told him that there were pieces that she wouldn’t give to him. That he would have to settle for this, for her warmth is his bed and handfuls of pieces but never the whole. And that couldn’t ever be enough.
Because Kagome had made him greedy. Because anything less than the whole of her, even these hundreds and hundreds of precious pieces he’d managed to scrape together, could never be enough.
He was greedy now. For maybe the first time in his damned existence he wanted. He wanted the scent of her on all of his clothes, he wanted the warmth of her hand in his as they walked through the lanes of the court, he wanted the promise of years and years to come.
And he wanted to be able to give her his pieces, too, all of them, and for her to take them like he had taken hers. He wanted her to accept them.
Kagome sighed softly in her sleep, the sound dragging him from his thoughts. For a moment her lashes fluttered as if she might wake, but she quickly settled back. Almost without conscious thought Inuyasha reached out once more, the pad of his thumb trailing lightly over the warm skin of her cheek as he curled an errant tendril of her hair around his fingers. He pressed it back from her face, enjoying the smooth glide of her hair beneath the rough skin of his palm.
Kagome stirred under his touch, sleep-fogged eyes the color of early morning mist blinking owlishly up at him.
“‘Smup?” she mumbled, in what he was pretty sure was an attempt at words.
Inuyasha felt one corner of his lips curl up in the way it only did when it was just her around.
“Nothing,” he said, somehow understanding the attempt. “Go back to sleep, dummy.”
She muttered what might have been a protest at the insult, but her eyes were already sliding shut once more. His fingers carded through her hair several more times until he was certain she was settled again, knowing as he did how the movement soothed her.
Kagome had made him greedy. It had taken time, probably longer than it should’ve, but he could accept that now. The real question was, could he make her greedy, too? Could he show her that there was a way that his pieces and her pieces, all of them, could exist together? That there was a way forward for them and, if there wasn’t, that he would carve one out with his bare claws?
Could he make her as greedy for that future as he was?
Inuyasha shifted, settling in close enough that he could feel the warmth of her from his chest down to his toes. She was sound asleep once more, but light was beginning to creep in through the high window of her chamber. Soon she’d wake up.
He smiled to himself, laying his head down beside hers. He was greedy, but he could wait.
