Kagome awoke, hollow-eyed and hungry, fatigued even though she must have slept at least twelve hours, judging by the late morning light slanting in through the gaping door curtain. Her recollection was vague, but she or Inuyasha must have knocked the curtain ajar when they’d stumbled in last night.

Last night…

Rolling onto her back, Kagome pressed a hand to her aching forehead. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Inuyasha was awake as well. Frowning, he lay on his side, still looking rather out of it as he smoothed a hand over her stomach. Her raised tank top lifted up even higher at the caress. Her spine stiffened as the tip of a claw slipped beneath her waistband.

It wasn’t long before he was tugging off her shorts and underwear altogether. The hand not stripping her eased down and around her, hot fingers cupping her with obvious need. Her clenched thighs parted as his touch wedged further in. The pads of his fingers spread her open without preamble, going straight for her stoppered entrance.

“…Dammit,” Inuyasha growled. His hand retreated from her as he flopped over onto his back. “Of course, there’s a plug…”

Her tampon string may as well have been the padlock on a chastity belt from the way he’d responded to it. Secretly, guiltily, Kagome was relieved at his reaction—juvenile though it was. The thought of her aching hips and breasts not having to bear any extra pressure right now was a welcome one.

Still, she could see how frustrated he was. His chest was tight. His claws were clenched at his sides. The thin summer blanket above him tented around the faintly throbbing jut of his erection. A dot of moisture darkened the fabric at the tip. Almost of its own accord, her hand slid across the ridge of his hip. Her cool fingers curved around his hard, burning length.

Inuyasha hissed in a breath. His abs flinched beneath her wrist as his golden eyes slid heatedly toward her. “Kagome…”

Slowly, she pumped him. Her free hand dragged the blanket away as her eyes fell to the task. In the past, Inuyasha had always been the one to initiate, but she wanted to give this to him. She wanted to make him feel good—needed to make him feel good. His hips rolled into her palm as she stroked him faster, her name escaping him on another ragged groan.

Pushing up onto her knees, Kagome pulled her tank top over her head, baring herself fully to his view. She felt the warmth of his gaze roving over her naked skin. His claws skimmed the heavy swell of her breast before she pressed his hand to the bed again and settled between his knees.

He jerked hard when she took him into her mouth, the taste of him bitter on her tongue. His claws tangled in her hair, twisting as she took him deeper in. Her own raised hips were to the door. Hot sunlight slanted across her back through the crack in the curtain—before suddenly her skin cooled, as what she assumed to be a cloud blocked the path of the light.

She had never done this before and didn’t know exactly what to do or what to expect. Almost mechanically, her mouth moved up and down. But for all her wooden uncertainty, Inuyasha unraveled beneath her nevertheless. It wasn’t long before his body went rigid, her name leaving his lips on a raspy growl. As he surged toward the back of her throat, she made a split-second decision and dutifully choked down the flood of his seed. His grip on her hair tightened to the point of pain. Eyes stinging, she sat up and released him.

The sun was hot on her back once more.

Panting, Inuyasha reached for her. His gaze was worshipful and dark as he clasped his hand around the unmarked side of her throat. Touching her fingers to his briefly, Kagome slipped on a yukata and turned toward the door.

In the relative privacy of the woods, she bathed and re-dressed. Retrieving a fresh tampon from her pack, she tugged on the string of the one currently within her. Her breath stilled in surprise as the thin cotton cylinder slipped out of her—

White as before.

For a moment, she held it suspended in front of her, her brow wrinkled in confusion. She had never bled for just one day. It was strange. She still had all the typical menstrual symptoms. Maybe this was just an unusually long lull in her flow.

Preoccupied with the thought, she made her way back home.

Inuyasha was fully awake now—still looking rough, though his mood seemed decidedly gentler. Heavy-lidded amber eyes held hers as she entered.

“I’m sorry, Kagome. I know I acted like an idiot last night.”

Kagome sighed as she set about making lunch. “The one you should apologize to is Shippou-kun. It was his party you ruined.”

His ears drooped. “Yeah, well…I didn’t mean to get so angry. I ain’t proud of it.” Pushing to his feet with a grunt, he approached her. His chin rested atop her hair as he embraced her from behind. “You’re good to me, Kagome. And I know you don’t ask for a lot. If you want to go to that nunnery, it’s fine with me.”

Kagome stilled, as tense as Inuyasha was relaxed. A sick feeling settled in her bones. It wasn’t like him to just give in like this. She knew intuitively what it was, and the knowledge made her ill inside.

She’d heard other women talk—boast, rather—about how they could ‘convince’ their husbands to do whatever they wanted. Kagome had always considered that the lowest of the low. To use sex as a bargaining chip struck her as fundamentally deceitful. Underhanded and cheap. What was the point of being a wife if all you did was sell yourself to your husband for a new kimono or extra help with the chores?

There was another word for that kind of woman in Kagome’s mind—a word Inuyasha had used on her the very night before.

Her hands shook as she gripped the kettle. This wasn’t what she’d intended, but did it even matter? She’d gotten what she’d wanted from him, hadn’t she?

“Kagome,” Inuyasha murmured near her ear, “you okay?”

Inhaling deeply, she turned to him with a queasy smile. “Yeah, just…tired, I guess.”

He nodded, hugging her tighter. In the sticky warmth of the hut, the heat from his body was stifling. The stricture of his arms made her lungs labor for every breath. It was all Kagome could do to keep her head from spinning as she filled the kettle with water. Thankfully, Inuyasha parted from her at last so she could finish making their meal in peace.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Revised 8/1/22