#inukag week day one

[fuedalreesespieces]

litany

ao3 summary:

If Inuyasha had to describe how he fell in love with Kagome, it would be this: as though water had been dripping onto his parched skin slowly, droplet by droplet so that he couldn’t quite yet tell if he’d dreamt it, and then, suddenly, an endless, sweet downpour - a realization impossible to ignore.

or: inuyasha and the confusion that is Kagome Higurashi.

read on ao3!!

snippet:

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He didn’t know what to think of her. 

He tried, at first, to categorize her by feature. It would keep him from fostering any attachments, he thought. She had long, dark hair, strands flaying every which way. She wore strange clothes and smelt of a fragrant aroma he had yet to put a name on. She had fair skin, but when she ran for just a little bit her cheeks would flush the color of flower buds, and it would spread through her face when her lips split to smile up at him, breathless.  

Feh, he would mutter. Hurry up, slow woman.   

Her eyebrows would dip and she’d shoot something out at him, a verbal remark, stinging like a wasp. And, naturally, he would have no other choice but to respond with worse, until they were at each other’s necks and the redness in her cheeks had become a sort of fire burning through her veins. He would seize her wrist and she would tug harshly on one of his silver side-bangs and they fought until they swore they hated the other, then, in solitude, ached for the other’s company. 

Though Inuyasha refused to admit something like that. He hadn’t ached for company since he had first been cast out into the forest, hadn’t quite ached for anything. Yearning was a privilege for those who had wishes in reach. He’d weaned himself on untrust. Ever since waking up at the base of that damned tree with an arrow still pulsing in his chest, he’d declared that would ever be led astray by hope again. Hoping was for humans, and there was never such a thing as half a hope.  

And so it was inevitable that he wouldn’t understand this girl. 

Kagome tucked her head into the slope of his neck and wrapped her arms around his shoulders like she’d done it all her life. She didn’t sleep with one eye open, like the villagers. Her fingers skirted over his claws without so much as a flinch. She smiled at him. He’d forgotten what that was like, to be smiled at without malice.  

The villagers had their opinions of her, and they ebbed and flowed in tidal waves of gossip. Inuyasha heard them whether he wanted to or not: a spy, no, a deity. But she was too immodest to be a deity, what with the garments that hiked up in the wind and hardly covered the expanse of her thigh. Does she not know shame? Does she not value her sanctity? From where does she hail, that she would be so careless? 

Inuyasha was beginning to think that it had less to do with where Kagome came from and more to do with Kagome herself. And, he thought she was far from careless. She cared more than any being ought to.  

She cradled flowers gently, and devoured the night sky as though she’d never seen it before, and helped the villagers who would praise and scorn her in the same breath. She packed strange medicines from her time and took pains to bring everything she could; did her schoolwork under the lithe branches of the trees he slept in even when dirt soiled her books and ink stained her hands from nights spent writing. They would be riding in her pink, iron cart, and she would see a man hobbling down the road and simply insist that they stop everything and help him.  

He looks so tired, she’d say, disregarding her own exhaustion. Just a second, okay?

Kagome would drag him off to help someone or another, and she would smile at his irked mumblings, somehow laughing at it all; a laugh that would echo into his dreams when the night was silent and thawing. 

She made him feel like his existence wasn’t a tragedy. With her, he felt that there was something worth hoping for. 

full thing!

[cringefiend]

INUKAG WEEK DAY 1/2: YEARNING/MOONLIGHT

Quick comic for day one of Inukag week

Some 3 yr separation angst from Inuyashas human night for inukag week day 1 and 2

Im always reading angsty fics so cooking up an evil plot came kinda naturally lmao

I’m not used to the comic format so If anyone has tips on how to make them look better pls share 😛😛

@inukag-week

[shinidamachu]

inuyasha, kagome and jealousy: why their feelings were justified

disclaimer: I'm aware there's a debate about whether or not inukag was officially, canonically dating during the series and that the answers tend to change according to the source material embasing them (manga or anime), but despite using manga panels to write this, I did it purely out of practicality and have no intentions of opening this particular can of worms right now. The point I'll be trying to make for @inukag-week's bickering prompt is that their feelings were valid regardless.

Inuyasha and Kagome get criticized a lot for the jealousy they feel of each other.

People seem to think that Kagome is not entitled to that sentiment because she chose to stay by his side knowing what it entailed and, more often than not, was the one telling him to go see Kikyo, so it's not fair of her to resent him when he actually does.

On the other hand, they claim that precisely because Inuyasha goes to see Kikyo, it's hypocritical of him to get mad at the fact that Koga is constantly showing just how much romantically invested he is on Kagome, as he has no ground to stand on.

Their feelings, however, are completely justified and no other scene proves that better than this manga interaction Sunrise mercilessly cut out:

Inuyasha is once again jealous of Kagome and Koga's proximity and he lets his frustrations out in no uncertain terms, but then Kagome makes a good point: what righ has he to be upset about it when he is also close to Kikyo? It's exactly why he gets flak in the first place. And his answer to that question is very interesting:

She may think Inuyasha is diverting, but he's really not. That's the briliance of this exchange: they are both right and they are both wrong on their assumptions.

Of course that, from Kagome's perspective, Koga putting his arms around her is not that big of a deal. They have no history whatsoever and she made it clear since day one that she wasn't interested. If he still wants to shoot his shot, it's all she can do to lay a friend and ally down gently.

Plus, it doesn't hurt that Koga's interest on her is such an ego boost...

Or that it turns the tables on Inuyasha to make him feel insecure and worried for a change.

Or that, in a twisted way, it actually reassures her of the feelings he tries so hard to be nonchalant about.

It might be a little petty of her, but how any of that even compares to Inuyasha kissing Kikyo? To Inuyasha meeting her alone even though she did terrible things to the two of them? To everyone constantly talking about how he still has feelings for her?

Surely he must know, after everything they've been through, that it can't compare, that he is the one Kagome is in love with. And since he does know, how dare he ever doubt her?

And of course that, from Inuyasha's point of view, Koga putting his arms around her is a huge deal. She complains about how every time he sees Kikyo they "float off into their own little world" but the truth is that except for the kiss she laid on him and the goodbye one they shared when she passed away for good — none of which had romantic conotations —, his interactions with Kikyo were pretty sterile, especially if juxtaposed with Kagome's interactions with Koga.

Kikyo is dead and isn't romantically interested in Inuyasha, nor is he romantically interested in her, but Koga certainly is into Kagome. Just because it isn't reciprocal yet, doesn't mean it hasn't potential to be.

Koga is the one regularly inserting himself into her personal space and she lets him, even though he did terrible things to the two of them. And so how can he be sure she doesn't like it? And how exactly is that different from the dynamic they share? Was she, after all, just being nice with him too and nothing more?

Surely she must know, after everything they've been through, that he only leaves because he has a duty to fulfil, but that he will always come back to her, that she is the one whose shoulders he puts his arm around. And since she does know, how dare she ever doubt him?

It's a classic case of miscommunication, but one that actually makes total sense, because they're just two teenagers navigating through extremely complex feelings in the worst possible circumstances.

They don't have the bigger picture the audience has and even if they did, their judgement would still be clouded by their jealousy, which keeps they stuck into their own perspectives.

And what makes even hard for them to get over these feelings is that they don't come from a place of ownership at all, but rather from a place of insecurity.

That's why Koga and Kikyo make up for such formidable rivals for Inuyasha and Kagome: it's not about the competition — the audience knows there isn't really one —, it's about the insecurities they bring out of the pairing, because they were carefully designed to do just that.

From the very beginning Kagome was being compared to Kikyo for being her reincarnation. She starts the story already having to measure up to her in power and once Kikyo actually enters the scene, Kagome is also taken aback by her beauty and elegance, but more than that: she feels like she can't compete because Kikyo "died for Inuyasha." One day he might return the favor.

For his part, Inuyasha has Koga to deal with. A good looking, uncomplicated man who has taken a like to Kagome and has absolutely nothing holding him back from pursuing her, while he has nothing to offer but a difficult past, an unstable present and an uncertain future. One day she could grow tired of it all and realize that Koga could give her everything he couldn't and leave for good.

In conclusion, all that jealousy is rooted in insecurities and in the fear of losing each other, which are completely understandable and absolutely valid .

The differece, I think, is that the narrative lets Inuyasha express his feelings of jealousy directly towards Koga, from insults to actual physical fights, without grand repercutions, while Kagome is never allowed allowed a similar outlet

But that's a topic for another day.

Special thanks to @kitramune for helping me with the panels.

[dyaz-stories]

'You smell nice' — Day one of Inukag Fluff Week

Just a fun lil one-shot for day one of @inukagfluffweek! There is a hint of background SessKagu too because I love them.

Mild warning for Inuyasha's potty mouth and that should be it.

Public transportation was the bane of Inuyasha’s existence.

First of all, whichever human had come up with the idea that half the population would stuff themselves into tin cans to get themselves to and from places, following the same precise and regular schedules every single day, deserved a trip straight to hell. It was easily the dumbest fucking concept known to man, and no self-respecting demon would have agreed to it.

Then there was the fact that there were people everywhere on public transportation, and man, did Inuyasha hate people. Gross, stupid bastards with no self-awareness and no regard for others. There were the students who’d bump into you without even noticing, the women recounting their day far too loud over the phone, and, the worst of them all, the gaggle of salarymen drunk off their asses after some reunion at work. Those ones were rude, entitled, clumsy, and, what was by far the biggest offense, they fucking stank.

And that part was what took the public transport experience from shitty to downright awful. The smells. Inuyasha was no fan of cities in general, their pollution, the sheer amount of things everywhere, whether restaurants, stores, or, of course, public toilets, and, well, the people. It wasn’t always the lack of hygiene, though that was an issue for sure, but the sweat after a day of work, the deodorants, the perfumes, they all came together to produce the foulest of stenches. He hated it here.

The train veered sharply to the left, and Inuyasha tightened his hold on the overhead bar he favored using. Fewer human hands had grabbed it, and since his height meant he had no issue reaching for it, he preferred that to other solutions. In front of him, Kagome hadn’t been so lucky, standing right against the door with nothing to hold onto. With a squeak, she stumbled backwards on her kitten heels, her back colliding with Inuyasha’s broad chest — not that there was really anywhere else for her to go, with how tightly packed the train was.

His free hand closed around her hip, stabilizing her. It came naturally, just instinct, no need to think about it or how nicely her body slotted against his.

She tilted her head back, pretty eyes looking up to him pleadingly.

“Sorry, Inuyasha,” she apologized, lips forming a cute pout.

“You’re good,” he replied, voice gruff. He sent a nasty look to the man on her right, who’d bumped into her. People usually steered clear of him, so the closer she was to him, the better. “You’re getting off at the next stop, right?”

“Yeah,” she beamed, and as always, he marveled at how easy it seemed to be for her to smile and distance herself from the mess of the world around her. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shut down the noises, the smells, the flashes of people’s screens — well, unless he had her to focus on. “I can’t wait to get home.” An eyeroll. “Today was the worst.”

A smirk tugged at his lips.

“Really? You didn’t enjoy Kagura making a scene?”

He knew he had. His sister-in-law was probably his favorite person in the family, actually, with his nieces a close second, and watching her strut into her asshole husband’s office to yell at him about him cancelling their anniversary dinner had absolutely made his day. They could never stay mad at each other very long, so he was sure a very expensive reconciliation was coming, but he’d had his fun for sure.

“No, I like Kagura,” Kagome replied. “But I got cornered by Hojo at the coffee machine and he wouldn’t stop talking about some miracle diet he thinks would cure my allergies and it took me forever to free myself.”

“Want me to do something about that? He never bothers me with that shit.”

“That’s because you terrify him,” she sighed, “so no, that’s not necessary, don’t—” Another turn, but this time he kept her pressed against him, clawed hand on her waist, and her voice barely wavered. “—worry about it. And thanks for that, Inuyasha.”

A knot formed in his throat at the way she leaned back into him without hesitation. He swallowed around it. Where most people cowered away from the hanyo, Kagome had never acted like he was a threat. Sometimes, he felt she was even a little too trusting. Made him feel and think all sorts of things he wasn’t very proud of.

“’s nothing.”

From how he stood behind her, he couldn’t help but catch her scent, especially when she moved and her hair were right under his nose.

And, fuck, she was a breath of fresh air. He’d known that from the first day she’d strolled into the office, of course, gust of wind blowing through the open door and sending her smell throughout the whole office. He didn’t know what it was, if it was the reiki he could guess at under her skin, that gave it such a pleasant flavor. Either way, it could become overwhelming even in the wide open space. Here, on the other hand, it was the perfect distraction against everything else, and it took more willpower than he’d like to admit to not just sniff at her.

“Everything okay?” she asked, catching him off guard, her big inquisitive eyes staring up at him.

“Yeah, it’s—” Damn it, he’d known she was always noticing things no one else cared about. “That’s— You smell nice,” he blurted out at last, and immediately, he wished he could slap himself in the face. What a fucking weirdo. Turned out, everyone who had told him his mouth was too big for his own good, usually before they got their asses handed to them, had been right. Couldn’t he have kept it shut this one damn time?

“Oh,” Kagome said, and her expression turned thoughtful. He waited for the inevitable judgment to fall down. “I read that demons often find perfumes difficult to deal with, so I haven’t worn any since getting hired at Taisho Inc. Is that really better for you?”

There was the knot again, but this time it wasn’t embarrassment, and rather another, deeper emotion. Of course she’d pay attention to that kind of stuff.

“Yeah, it is,” he answered, clearing his throat. “Makes it hard to be around too many people.”

“That’s good to know,” she said with a nod. “Let me know if I can do other things to help you, alright?”

He would not be telling her anything about the thoughts that were running through his mind at her proposal. Nuh-huh.

“That’s my stop,” she grinned up at him, grabbing the hand at her waist and squeezing it gently in hers. “Thank you again, Inuyasha. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

She waved at him, and a second later, she was lost in the crowd, and his world was just a little darker, duller, blander. He let his hand fall back to his side, flexing it reflexively as if to remember how it had felt, touching her.

Keh. He couldn’t believe she was making him look forward to another day in the office.

As a lot of you know, it's been ages since I last wrote for this pairing that's still near and dear to my heart, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! Don't hesitate to scream at me about it in the tags, in the reblogs, in my askbox... anywhere your heart desires lol. Thank you for reading!

[courtesanofdeath]

Inukag Week 2023: Day One - Love Languages @inukag-week

[inukagfluffweek]

Inukag Fluff Week Day One: “You Smell Nice.”

[brain-rot-hour]

@inukag-week day 7: Contrast

I didn’t really have any better idea for this one, and honestly I've just been mentally and physically drained this last week, so I did a panel redraw for the last prompt. I really do like the symbolism of their contrasting hair colors, as well as the difference between their characters at the ending vs when we first meet them

[justafewsmallsteps]

Another quick art and ficlet for @kagomes-hanakotobamatsuri ! This one focused on Week 3, Fertility and I used the Yellow Rose (new beginnings) as my inspiration flower. I started writing this while I was pregnant 2 years ago, but didn’t get around to finishing it until now.

Title: Potatoes Word Count: 1113 Rating: T Pairing: Inukag Warnings: Pregnancy

Try as she might, Kagome couldn’t help the uncontrollable (and unreasonable) flood of negative emotions that came with her unfulfilled pregnancy craving.

Wacdonald’s, of all things. Of course she was craving one of the most unobtainable foods possible in Sengoku and one of the easiest to find in her modern Tokyo. 

She didn’t really feel regret at leaving the modern world behind, not with Inuyasha and a life of friends and nature to surround her, and yet… 

Kagome found herself seething in angry tears. Angry at her body, angry at her attitude, angry at life. While she was always an emotional person, this hormone-induced storm was driving her crazy. She felt everything stronger, and no amount of logic or sleep was pulling her out of it because when she really really thought about it, it was all so unfair. She was raging at the world for making her choose between one family and another. The past was her future, and the future was now her past. But why did she have to choose? Why couldn’t she have a child with the love of her life and introduce her baby to her mother and grandfather and brother? Her righteous sorrow and her selfish cravings swirled into an indistinguishable mass of feelings. One second there was joy, another pain, the next irrepressible annoyance. She was guilty that she felt this way, upset as a tantruming toddler over a greasy burger and salty fried potatoes. 

And ultimately she was sad to be so far from her mother. 

Her thoughts turned to her poor husband. 

Inuyasha had been very sweet since she’d gotten back, and her pregnancy ramped up his doting completely. From warming her bath, to fetching her the ripest fruits, to building her the most comfortable approximation of a mattress possible, she felt spoiled and grateful. But her pregnancy-addled brain and hormonal body had her feeling so at odds with her heart. She loved being here. She loved her friends and the family they found in each other. She loved Inuyasha. 

Yet she longed for the crepes at the Shinjuku station mall, ice cream from a stand, steak from the grocery store cooked at home… her mouth was practically a waterfall at the thought. But by far the biggest craving was a Wacdonald’s cheeseburger with extra cheese and a side of fries dipped in ketchup. Make that two sides of fries. She could cry thinking about it, which she knew was stupid. 

It didn’t help that so many things made her feel nauseous. She’d helped out with pregnant mothers before, giving them herbs to help, learning from Kaede the rough timeline. She’d given reassurances and her best empathy, but in the throes of morning sickness Kagome wished to strangle her past naivety—and as much as she adored Kaede, the woman never actually had to go through pregnancy. 

Sango helped the most, understanding her anger, giving practical advice to give her the slightest relief. After all, carrying the twins had been an ordeal.

But Kagome was tired of ginger root and plain rice. 

She was tired in general. It has been such a joy to find out she was pregnant, and the first few weeks were a breeze. Then the morning sickness kicked in and subsequently kicked her ass. Morning sickness. God, it was unending sickness. Any time of the day sickness! She huddled under her blanket, willing the fatigue and nausea away. 

Then Inuyasha emerged from the door with her requested pile of potatoes. His look was apprehensive. He wanted to help her in any way he could, knowing that his wife often repressed cries for her mother. 

“I scrubbed ‘em already, and the pan’s good to go.” 

“Thank you, Inuyasha.” 

“I’ll cut ‘em too. It’s supposed to be like sticks, right?” 

She nodded. “Not too thin though.” Her husband was really good with a knife. She might be envious of his skills if he wasn’t such a good partner. 

Before he could start chopping, she stopped him. “Wait! Maybe cubes are better. They’ll move around the pan more easily.” 

“‘Kay,” he replied easily. 

Kagome stifled a groan as she slowly got up. Inuyasha had set the pan to heat already, so all she had to do was add the oil. 

“This look alright?” Inuyasha asked, checking in with her about the size. 

“Those look good.” 

Something about the sound of him chopping away triggered something. Everything triggered some emotion or another—but the domestic simplicity of their lives came at her full force as she heard the rhythmic sounds of their knife hitting their wooden chopping block. 

“It’s wonderful,” she whimpered, tears gathering in her eyes. 

“Woah, woah!” The hanyou turned around in concern, his hand immediately at her back to try to comfort her.  “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” she lifted her head and sobbed, unable to hold it back. “It’s just the hormones, but I do think you’re wonderful. I’m so lucky to have you!” she wailed. 

His entire being was on high alert since she got pregnant, and even though he knew emotional outbursts were bound to happen, he still went into overdrive trying to make sense of it and fix whatever he could. “T-thanks.” 

“Thank you for getting me potatoes so we could try making fries. I’m sorry I’m probably going to hate it or throw it up but it’s the closest thing I have to Wacdonald’s.” She wiped her face with her sleeve and sniffled. 

“I told you, woman, I’ll do anything I can. I’m sorry we don’t got wako’s or whatever here.” 

“I’m being unreasonable.”

“It’s normal. You know it is. I know it is. You shoulda seen Miroku while Sango was having her cravings. Damn near swindled every ingredient from every vendor in every town just to find something she couldn’t remember the name of.” 

Kagome gave a watery laugh. “That makes me feel better.” 

“We’ll make something good, and if you hate it and retch I’ll make you two something else.” 

‘Us two,’ Kagome thought in awe, placing her hand on her belly. “We appreciate you.” She sent him a smile and got on her tiptoes to kiss his jaw. 

“Yeah, yeah. If you’re done, I’m going to go finish cutting now,” he brushed off, trying to hide his blush as he turned around. 

“Okay, but we’re following you,” Kagome declared. As her husband resumed chopping the rest of the potatoes, she wrapped her arms around his middle and rested her cheek against his back. 

“I’m gonna be done in five seconds, you know.” 

“Go slower.” 

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, but the quick beat of the chopping slowed to a different, sweeter ballad, and Kagome hummed contentedly along.

[peachy-sapphy]

Back to tumblr for my yearly venture into #inukagweek!! Just an FYI I'm way more active on Instagram, if you like my stuff follow me there @/peachy_sapphire!! You can also find my commissions sheet there!! DM me on insta or email me at peachy.keen.sapphire@gmail.com for inquiries 💖🍀💖

Anyways here's Day One's entry: Yearning!! But who's yearning for that kiss more, Inuyasha or this fanbase lol

@inukag-week

Ko-fi.com/peachy_sapphire

[suna1suna1]

Inukag Fluff Week 2024 | Day 1

"You smell nice"

Can't do anything fancy this year bc time constraints and I started kinda last minute, but hey, I've gotten at least a little better since last year!

I've been looking forward to this for months and I'm already having a lot of fun!

I need to rewatch the anime again though. And try and get my hands on more of the manga. I only have one volume. Guess that's my homework for tonight :)

[feudalconnection]

The Nomination Period for the 3rd Term 2024 Inuyasha Fandom Awards is now CLOSED!!

Hey everyone!

Below the cut you'll find a complete list of all of the Fanart nominations received for this term! You can also find it on Google Docs.

Click here for the complete list of Fanfiction nominations.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this term for taking the time to do so. We hope you enjoyed your experience! If you do not see your nomination, please reach out to us as soon as possible!

We strongly encourage that when you view a work of art or read a fanfiction, please reblog or leave a review to let the creators know how much their work and talent is appreciated!

As a reminder, we are giving 3 weeks time to enjoy all of the creations. The voting period will begin October 6th and end October 20th.

In order to be able to vote, you'll need to register so we can keep it all neat and clear. We will be posting the link to the voting form on the first day of the voting session.

Got a question? Check out our FAQ or send us an ask. You can also message one of the mods directly!

Thank you to everyone who nominated for making this 3rd Term absolutely wonderful, and happy voting!

Best Action/Adventure

"She was a girl, he was a half dog demon 🌹" by @eleuphii

"Moroha's Bravery" by @jess-oui

"Now I will be the one to protect you" by @geda-art

Best Alternate Universe/Reality

"Untitled (Mechanic Inu & Kagome)" by Hullo Yokai (TW)

"A change in art style" by @weeeting

"Unnecessary" by @mayarab

Best Canon Universe

"Untitled" by @redundantz

"InuKag Slow Dance" by Hullo Yokai (TW)

"All grown up" by @istehlurvz

"Robe of the Fire-Rat (newest)" by _taisana_ (TW)

Best Angst

"Now I will be the one to protect you" by @geda-art

"Moroha's Bravery" by @jess-oui

"Untitled" by @rinsilverstar223

"Protect" by @pachworldx-1

"Cycle." by @anisaanisa

Best Dark

"Passion" by @akulols

"Sesshōmaru-punk 2077" by @june-v

"untitled Inuyasha" by @hycopank

"Protect" by @pachworldx-1

Best Humor/Parody

"Nothing like a fake 'stach-off in front of the mirror" by @clearwillow

"ZOOMIIIIES" by Angel_KagomeX (TW)

"Kagome needs a bike upgrade" by @bandsandwristbands

"Leashed" by @valgreys

"zoomies!" by @purpledemonart

"He's cooking" by @melaugo

Best Kiss

"Love is in the Air" by @cam3llia95

"Untitled MirSan" by Angel_KagomeX (TW)

"Spring Fever" by @stardust414

"Inuyasha & Kagome" by @pachworldx-1

"Untitled" by @bakutenshi

"Hungry like a wolf" by @otaku-108

Best Character

"Kikyo from Inuyasha" by @lynndylee

"Untitled (Bandaid)" by Lenbarboza (TW)

"Untitled" by @little1bird

"Sango, beautiful with her scars" by @eliza-faust-diary

Best Duo/Pairing

"Untitled" by @louffeine

"Untitled (Mechanic Inu & Kagome)" by Hulloyokai (TW)

"Kagome needs a bike upgrade" by @bandsandwristbands

"A Rare Moment" by @moonnueart

"A dip to cool off, you and me ❤️" by cricriart (TW)

Best Doujinshi

"MINI COMIC UPDATE!" by @jhdanes

"Claws and Roses" by Lenbarboza (TW)

"April Fools" by @mitsiepitsie-blog

"Inu-Illiterate" by Garish_Wyvern (AO3)

Best Redraw

"I finally finished Inuyasha 😭💕" by @girls-with-boys-names

"Honesty with Consequences" by _taisana_ (TW)

"I'm a Diva" by @julytheartist

"ZOOMIES" by Angel_KagomeX (TW)

Best NSFW

"Sex at the Well" by @brain-rot-hour

"tiempo a solas" by @lucky-chan34dl

"Morning Routines" by @the-lone-huntress

Best InuKag Romance

"{Born to Meet Me}" by @artblogofanekophile

"Stardust Birthday" by @clearwillow

"InuKag Slow Dance" by Hulloyokai (TW)

"Untitled" by @moonnueart

"Inspired by ETERU" by @geda-art

Best MirSan Romance

"Untitled" by @kalcia

"Untitled MirSan" by Angel_KagomeX (TW)

Best Romance

"A Rare Moment" by @moonnueart

"Nothing like a fake 'stach-off in front of the mirror" by @clearwillow

"Untitled InuParents" by @brain-rot-hour

"Afterglow" by @stardust414

"Mistakes Made at Midnight" by @heavenin--hell

"Unnecessary" by @mayarab

Best Group Depiction

"Untitled" by @redundantz

"Honesty with Consequences" by _taisana_ (TW)

"SessKag Festival 2024" by @julytheartist

"Izayoi meets Kagome and Moroha" by @jess-oui

"Family Portrait" by @mayarab

"Sixteenth Night" by @travelingneuritis

Best Improved Artist

"Robe of the Fire-Rat" by _taisana_ (TW)

"11 years later" by @rin-afananditshows

Best Overall

"Stardust Birthday" by @clearwillow

"Untitled" by @kalcia

"Untitled (Bandaid)" by LenBarboza (TW)

"SessKag Festival 2024" by @julytheartist

"Inuyasha & Kagome" by @pachworldx-1

"Just a piece of My otp 😫🌹🌹" by @wisejazz

[feudalmerengue]

Inukag fluff week - day 1

“You smell nice”

No sleep for Miss Higurashi that night

@inukagfluffweek

Come on man this is THE INUKAG SCENE

Also one of my favorites, idk what’s about it but I like to think that’s the first official Inukag scene (w both having feelings for each other) but bc it’s so early on neither of them understand this feeling. Inuyasha understands how good of a person Kagome is and how no matter what she is going to stay by his side. Kagome had already experienced some level and f attraction for Inuyasha (the mask ep) but in this episode it’s the first time she actually gets thinks about this feeling as something romantic

Anyways. Simple doodle bc school is draining me rn 😭. Hope I can make it w every prompt

[cringefiend]

INUKAG WEEK DAY 5/6:PERSONAL SPACE/ SACRIFICE

The hurt/comfort demons struck again 😈This is set after Kagome almost gets killed by the band of 7. In the show I feel like they got over the fact that she literally died very quickly (idk though I may be mis remembering) either way there’s a lot of angst potential.

One of my fav headcannons is that Inuyasha is more dog coded then he seems and he likes when Kagome pets his ears.

I usually don’t do such blatant angsty shipart but I’ve been emboldened bc of all the love on the last comic strip I did. I also tried out writing dialogue, I hope it’s at least a little bit in character.

I’m rlly liking tumblr so far bc it’s letting me reach my cornball potential. Lowkey making things for Inukag week is the most I’ve enjoyed making art in a while,,,, this fandom is one of the best I’ve ever been in.

Last panel is based off of this: https://pin.it/5vqba5z05

@inukag-week

[shinidamachu]

@INUKAG-WEEK DAY ONE (YEARNING): you belong to the stars, my darling. I could never keep you. Only love you. (insp)

[dyaz-stories]

Cuddling — Day two of Inukag Fluff Week

Second one shot for @inukagfluffweek! This one is set in canon, and probably a little more on the hurt/comfort side.

Keeping an eye on Kagome was second nature for Inuyasha. After all, if there wasn’t food on her plate, she’d grow hungry and Jewel shards hunting would be interrupted. If there wasn’t a fire to keep her warm, she’d be too tired to go on. If they were caught in a downpour without shelter, she’d get sick. If she kept going when her legs hurt, the next day would be hell. So he got her food, he built the fire, he found the shelter, he carried her on his back. Not ‘cause he cared, though, well, he did care, a little bit, the normal amount, whatever that was, but for purely practical reasons.

That meant he figured out early on that something was wrong. He couldn’t pinpoint what for the life of him, though.

He’d added wood to the fire. He’d caught and cooked a rabbit. He’d carried her on his back half the day, holding her two-wheeled thing in one hand. He’d even offered his services in ridding some farmer of pesky yokai, so they’d get to sleep in a barn for once. Sure, he wasn’t Miroku, and he couldn’t secure them a place in some luxury house, but he was trying his best, ‘kay? Miroku wasn’t around anyway, and Kagome had never complained about luxuries before.

And still, when everything should have been fine, something was clearly wrong. Kagome kept looking in the distance, eyes turning glassy, mouth curving downward as she buried herself in her thought, keeping him so, so far away from her even if she was sitting right next to him.

 Inuyasha had no damn clue how to fix it.

“What is it this time?” he snapped at last as she was finishing her food in silence, taking small, slow bites, and she jumped at the sound of his voice. Her wide brown eyes focused on him at last, and that simple action was grounding enough for him that he would almost have felt sorry for his outburst.

Almost.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, and the immediate frown on her face told him she was not to be messed with right now — too bad he didn’t care, at this point.

“What’s wrong with you, you mean,” he scoffed, folding his arms and shaking his head. “You’ve been sulking for days. So tell me how to fix it, or just stop doing that already!”

If he’d been self-aware enough for that, he would no doubt have realized how childish he sounded. Kagome could have, too, but instead, her face flushed.

“I’m fine!” she replied, her voice too high-pitched to be convincing. “It’s not your problem anyway, so just forget about it!”

“How is it not my problem when you’re all—” He gestured at her, frustrated. “—and it’s a pain to travel!”

“Well if it’s a pain to travel with me, why don’t you just go with someone else?” she replied, raising her voice a little more.

“Because I don’t want to travel with someone else!” he yelled back. “I just want you to tell me how to not make it hard for you!”

She went quiet then, uncharacteristically so, red spreading to her ears, and Inuyasha growled under his breath, muttering to himself. He wasn’t sure what to do with this quiet Kagome. If she needed to scream at him to feel better, well, she could get on with that, and at least then she’d be fixed or whatever, but even picking a fight wasn’t working, damn it.

“I’m sorry,” Kagome whispered at last, and Inuyasha started like he’d been stung by a bee. Uh, yeah, not good. She didn’t do that. Even when she was in the wrong, she needed her time and space to calm down, and then she’d apologize, often while bringing him an offering of ramen. She never turned down a fight with an immediate apology.

That was when the tears came.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, sniffing.

“Wh— No— Don’t—” he pleaded, voice cracking, but she paid him no attention.

“I just— It’s been a very long year, you know? And I— I— I miss my mom,” she finally broke, waterfalls on her cheeks, quiet sobs wracking her body as she wrapped her arms around her knees.

Inuyasha froze. He reached out for her without thinking, overwhelmed by the need to make it stop, make it better, make her better, make it so she’d never ever cry again, but his fingers curled up before he could touch her, caught by some other part of his instinct.

“W-why didn’t you just say so! You can just— you can just go home then!” he scoffed, trying very hard to sound annoyed, but he couldn’t keep the worry out of his voice.

“But we’ve been on the road for days,” Kagome sniffed, “and it would take days to go back, and we haven’t found that stupid Jewel shard, and I just want her to give me a hug, and—”

“Ha, well I-I can do that too! You could have asked me!”

That made Kagome stop crying for long enough to give him a blank stare.

“Come on, Inuyasha. I’m not going to force you to hug me.”

“W-who said anything about forcing me!”

“Well you don’t look thrilled about it,” she said, doubtful, and at least she was crying a lot less now, but her eyes and nose were still read and he wasn’t going to let that slide, was he?

“J-just— just don’t move, okay?”

Clumsily, despite how careful he was being, he put both arms around her, awkwardly tugging her until he’d brought her against his chest. He was barely touching her, his arms forming a misshaped circle hovering around her. He’d hugged her before, but it had been an impulsive action, not one he’d thought about. He— had no idea how to do it intentionally.

Against his chest, Kagome giggled.

“You have to actually hug me, you know? Like that.”

She did it without hesitation, wrapping her arms around him. Closing her eyes, she rested her head against his, and this time when he froze, there were very different emotions running within him. On the top of his head, his ears were twitching, all his senses alert, taking in her breathing that was getting more even, her smell, her breath against his skin. Swallowing, he finally brought himself to close his arms around her, and she sighed contentedly.

“See?” she asked. “That’s nice, isn’t it?”

He could barely reply around the knot in his throat. She felt so soft against him, so delicate. His half-demon strength would make it so, so easy to break her in half — and she knew that. Her warmth was spreading through him, from his chest and face to the root of his hair and the tip of his toes. Everything he felt was Kagome. With great care, he ran his fingers through her hair, not wanting his claws to cut through them by accident. She shivered, tilted her head forward a little to give him better access. Mesmerized, he kept going. Her hair felt soft between his fingers, silky.

Everything about this was calming. And she’d been right. It was nice.

It caught him by surprise when she moved, entangling herself from him.

“Thanks, Inuyasha,” she said, sniffing again. “I’m feeling better. It was nice of you to— Oh!”

He pulled her back into him, this time with a tighter grip.

“You said you needed a hug, so I’m giving you one that’ll last you until I can get you back to your time,” he said gruffly. “Now just sleep, ‘kay?”

Her laugh vibrated through his chest, and he found it to be the best thing he’d ever felt.

“Okay,” she said. “Thanks, Inuyasha.”

He would have told her that he was just doing it so she’d be in the mood for shard hunting the next day, but if she’d called him out, he would never have been able to lie with a straight face, so he chose not to.

‘cause truth be told, now that he was experiencing it, he thought he’d needed that hug at least as much as her.

Don't have ideas for the upcoming themes so this will probably be my last entry for the week! Thank you all for the love on yesterday's entry, hope you've enjoyed this one as well, and I'll see you when I see you!

[ssukidesu]

a better method

Fandom: Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale

Pairing: Inukag

Rating: T

Inukag Week 2024 ( @inukag-week ) - Day 3: Bickering

Summary: After a messy fight, Kagome offers to clean the beads of subjugation. She has every intention of putting them right back on afterwards, but Inuyasha's not so willing.

Read on AO3

Read under the cut

Kagome was bent over, towel in her hands, ruffling her hair dry. The smell had taken forever to get out. The very memory of it made her stomach curl in nausea, and she shoved the thought away hastily. Sango had borne the brunt of it; it was hiraikotsu, after all, that sliced the pig demon into pieces. Its blood and entrails were flung absolutely everywhere—and all five of them had been drenched. Luckily, there was a river nearby, and they were able to clean themselves of the worst of it. Sango had been grateful for the shampoo and soap, which was equally strong with its floral aroma.

The girls had gone first, of course; currently, Inuyasha, Miroku, and Shippo were making use of the river, though Kagome doubted it would do them much good; she and Sango had used up all of her soaps during their cleaning, and the boys would unfortunately be going without. Not that she thought Inuyasha in particular would have used her perfumed shampoo… but still.

The girls were working together to get a fire going for dinner when the men and Shippo returned. They at least looked better, Kagome noted immediately. She would make sure to purchase some unscented soaps whenever they passed the next village. The soap of this era was far less offensive to demonic senses, at least.

Fifteen minutes later, and they were all sipping on venison soup, thanks to Inunyasha’s successful hunt earlier that evening. It smelled glorious, and they were all grateful for the additional refreshment to their olfactory glands.

But afterwards, when they were settled around the fire to ward off the dropping autumn temperatures, Kagome got a whiff of that terrible scent again. It happened right as Inuyasha plopped down next to her—and she immediately roamed her eyes over his figure.

“What?” he accused sharply.

“That smell. Where’s it coming from?” she said, getting right to the point. “Your clothes look fine.”

He grit his teeth. “It’s this stupid thing,” he said, gripping the beads around his neck. “It’s impossible to clean. Too many crevices.”

“…Oh,” she said, rather stupidly. She shared a look with Sango, and then Miroku. They both shrugged at her. Inuyasha was picking something from under his claws when she returned her wary gaze to him. “Do you… want me to clean it?” 

His fingers stopped their twiddling. “Huh?” His eyes widened briefly before narrowing. “Are you messing with me?” he charged.

Kagome swallowed, solidifying her decision. “N-No. We can take it off for a minute,” she said.

“Yeah,” he scoffed. “Right. Go ahead, then!” His tone was sarcastic as he dramatically leaned his head down, as if he was daring her. 

Kagome took one last look at her friends. Apart from Shippo, they seemed… relatively okay with the idea. They were probably having the same sort of doubts she was—that he’d be a little insufferable for a bit, but that he’d surely do nothing too diabolical.

She returned her gaze to him. He was peering up at her now, seemingly convinced that she wasn’t actually going to do it. But when she lifted her hands to grip the beads, his breath stuttered, and his eyes widened. She lifted and lifted, detangled some hair, and then lifted the rest of the way. 

He was gawking at her. She lifted her hand and closed his mouth. “You’ll catch flies ,” she snapped before flipping her still-damp hair and walking away.

He immediately turned to look at his friends, who were staring at him tensely, and he couldn’t help himself. 

He hooted. 

Kagome expected something like this, that the first thing he’d do is scare the kit a little. As she tinkered near the campfire to boil some water, she heard Inuyasha chasing Shippo around with terrible laughter, and she felt an inner peace take her. Of course he would be harmless. He didn’t even have it in him to actually catch Shippo; he just wanted to mess around. If he was good, maybe she wouldn’t make him put it back on until tomorrow. She grinned at the thought.

The thing really was filthy. Not just from the pig demon, either; it had needed a good cleaning for months, most likely. The plaque and grime was disgusting, even after letting it soak in the boiling water for ten minutes. She decided she could spare an old toothbrush and used it to scrub the thing bead by bead. Before she knew it, she’d been working on it for an hour. 

Inuyasha gave her no more time than that; he was ready to set off toward their next destination. She tried to convince him to let them keep that campsite another night, but it seemed he was… a little too confident in his newfound freedom for her mere pestering to work.

She didn’t think much of it. He wasn’t wrong to be in a hurry; there was a lead to follow, and it would be risky to linger. So they indeed set out. 

After a rather… bothersome three hours of walking, night finally fell. Inuyasha graciously allowed them to stop, and they ate some leftover soup for supper. 

It looked like he would make it to tomorrow without having to put it back on, after all; Kagome still wasn’t done scrubbing it, and she was too exhausted to pick up where she left off before. 

“Don’t go crazy from excitement, Inuyasha,” she told him as she crawled into her sleeping bag. “I’ll finish cleaning it tomorrow, and then it’s back to real life.”

She heard him scoff from the tree he’d chosen as his resting place. “Yeah, right,” he laughed.

Her stomach sank a little at this. Kagome did worry a little that he’d fight her about it, and if she was being honest, she didn’t quite know how she would go about winning that argument. But she told herself it would work out, somehow. She wouldn’t worry about it just yet.

But in the morning, after they had broken their fast and she had completed her cleaning job, she found herself at the moment she’d feared sooner than she expected. He was lounging in a low branch of a thick tree, eyes closed. The others were closer to camp, trusting the task to her.

She cleared her throat. “I’ve finished, Inuyasha.”

“Hmm.”

Well, that wasn’t a helpful response. 

“Come on down so I can put it back on,” she tried with a forcibly normal voice.

“No way,” he said simply.

“…What do you mean, ‘no way’?”

“I mean what I said. I already told you I wouldn’t let you put it back on.”

Her stomach hardened into a knot at that. This was going to be more difficult than she’d hoped…

When she threw a pebble at his head, she at least succeeded in getting him out of the tree. 

He landed roughly on both feet, growling. “What was that for? You tryin’ to start something?” he said, glaring down at her.

“That’s my line. Stop being childish and put it back on,” she said, lifting it up with her hands. 

He instantly stopped the movement by gripping the beads with his own hand, tugging and holding it back down with a strength that humbled her own.

He was smirking. “You couldn’t do it if you tried.”

Her mouth was agape. 

“Don’t look at me like that. You’ll catch flies,” he said mockingly.

“Inuyasha,” she scolded, keeping her temper down. She tried tugging the beads, but they didn’t budge from his grip. 

His smile was more cruel than playful, and she’d be lying if she said it didn’t scare her a little.

“Are you being serious?” she tried.

“Of course. You’re an idiot if you think I’m gonna let you put that thing back on me,” he goaded.

“Hey,” she huffed, mask slipping. “Don’t call me an idiot. It doesn’t have to be a big deal.”

He chuckled bitterly. “You’re not the one who kisses dirt because of it.” Releasing the beads, he pressed two fingers into her shoulder and gave her a weak shove, though it was enough to jostle her back a step. “You can’t make me,” he grinned savagely.

She saw that he was playing… sort of. He was smiling, for sure, but there was something resentful behind the facade of banter. He seemed genuinely vengeful. 

She wouldn’t show her growing fear—no matter what. Better that she acted the same as always, right? If she acted the same… maybe he would, too.

“Come on,” she badgered. “I’ll get you more ninja food next time I go home.”

“Nice try, Kagome,” he spat, towering over her with a puffed chest. “Admit it. You messed up. Stupid,” he drawled.

She would not let the tears form. Yes, she was growing terribly frustrated, but she couldn’t let him see. She’d have no shot of convincing him after that; she had to stay level-headed. Had to keep her reins in her own hands. She couldn’t reveal that she was getting embarrassed at her own naivety, and she certainly didn’t want him to know he was succeeding likely more than he meant to in intimidating her. Kagome didn't like thinking that her confidence in him depended on his wearing the beads; the thought made her feel dirty, like she had broken some sacred unspoken part of being his friend.

But then, he went a step further. And a physical step closer.

“Say it,” he taunted.

She scowled up at him, weighing whether to try and surprise attack him. But she knew he was too quick for something like that to work. “Say what?”

“Tell me to sit. I just wanna hear you say it.”

“Why would I?” she fumed. “It wouldn’t work.”

His smile was less of a smile and more like a smug way to remind her of the sharpness of his teeth. “Exactly.”

The sight was not ineffective. Her heart began to race, and not for entirely pleasant reasons. 

“You’re being mean, Inuyasha,” she said in a desperate attempt to regain herself.

He didn’t falter. If anything, his expression grew in vitriol. “I’m a demon, Kagome.”

“I know,” she yelled, rising to her toes. Her fist clenched around the necklace at her side.

“Then maybe you should start acting like it,” he growled. He was seething now, and Kagome realized that he had probably wished to say this—to reestablish his pride as a demon who wasn't leashed by a little human girl—for a very long time. In his view, the beads had been a sign of humiliation. Kagome had always known this, but she had come to believe that he didn't take himself so seriously as to be genuinely offended by it. The revelation of her mistake was no less than discomfiting. Yes—of course she knew he was a demon. But when he had the beads, this fact had seemed... unimportant. And as it turned out, an unfettered Inuyasha was a little more overwhelming than she'd expected.

What had she done?

“You’re—” she stuttered, and she wondered if the moisture gathering on her lash line was real or imagined. “You’re so…”

She watched the muscles in his jaw clench, watched his pupils grow to slits. Her ears stopped working; her eyes were blurring.

And when he lifted his hand toward her face, she couldn’t help herself.

She flinched. 

And it was quite dramatic. No way to hide it if it ends with your feet tripping over each other and your butt landing on the filthy ground. No way to cover it up when your breath is still recovering from a gasp like that. 

The shame of the moment had not hit her yet; she was still reeling, still refilling her lungs, still blinking her vision clear. She kept her head bowed, stuck on her lap. 

When she heard her name on his lips, she began to sense her mistake. But before she could fully decipher it, his hands were on her, under her knees and behind her back. She was in the air. She clung to him as he bounded through the trees, not even remembering the beads still wound around her fingers, until he found one he liked and burrowed them there within the branches.

Her hands were plastered to her face even after he released her. 

“Kagome…” he said, voice dangerously low. “Are you really…?”

Pounding. Her heart was pounding. She knew she was being stupid, but she had lost control of her body—and all she had was instinct, instinct, instinct when she saw him bring his fatal fingers toward her neck. Luckily, when he made the same motion this time, her eyes were shielded from seeing their approach. His hands pulled her wrists down, freeing her mortified face. She stared down at where he gripped her.

“Hey,” he said, jostling her hands. “Look at me.”

He didn’t continue until she obeyed. Kagome wondered if she looked as terrified as he did in that moment, and it encouraged her to attempt a calming breath. His voice, however, retained its anger from before—though its direction had changed. 

“I would never hurt you. Got that?” He shook her again, desperation taking over his features. “Burn it into your damn head. Beads or no beads, you’re—" he halted abruptly, black brows still drawn taut in the middle. “To hell with it,” he growled to himself. He loosened her wrists and gripped her shoulders instead, bringing himself closer. His golden eyes bore into hers. “You’re everything to me. The only person who’s in danger if I don’t have the beads is any person who’s stupid enough to lay a finger on you.”

Her tears streamed outright now, but she didn’t even notice. She was staring at his mouth, which was snarled in an angry frown. She licked her dry lips and said meekly, “I’m sorry, Inuyasha—I shouldn’t have doubted you. I don’t know why I…” she trailed off, the risk of her voice breaking too great to ignore.

“Keh,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Give it to me.”

Eyes widening for only a second, Kagome managed to nod her head before she loosened the beads from around her fingers. His right hand unlatched from her shoulder, and he placed his palm in the air to receive it. She lowered it onto his skin, the beads clacking quietly against each other as it collapsed from gravity. 

She supposed it wouldn’t really change anything for him to break them. He hadn’t lost control of his demonic blood in a very long time, and she figured the beads had lost their edge against him in such a form, anyway. Tetsusaiga was far more effective. And she supposed she technically didn’t sit him nearly as often nowadays, either. His behavior today would prove an outlier, she told herself; he was just readjusting to his freedom. It would be fine. She believed this firmly now, and she was ashamed that she didn’t from the start.

But Inuyasha did not break them; instead, he pulled them right back over his head and let them drop with a loud clatter around his neck.

“Wait, Inuyasha—“

“Shut up,” he snapped, but his remaining hand on her shoulder was gentle, and his eyes were, too. His voice remained firm, but he softened it for his next words: “I don’t ever wanna see that look on your face again. And if this is what I gotta do to prevent it, then I’ll do it.”

“Inuyasha…” she winced. “I’m sorry. Really, I trust you—you don’t have to wear them anymore.” Kagome pushed herself onto her knees and lifted her hands to grab the necklace, but his own hands were faster: he gripped and halted her wrists against his chest. She froze, eyes locking onto his from a mere foot away. 

His eyes flashed in warning. “Leave ‘em,” he scolded. “I’m not letting go until you say you won’t try to take them off.” He punctuated his words by a quick squeeze of her wrists, which were still pinned to his firm, warm chest. 

Kagome gulped, half dazzled and half annoyed. “…Only if you promise you believe me when I say I trust you.”

He looked at her, hard. She wondered at how his anger, for a moment, seemed to sharpen. Then, in one fluid movement, his hands shoved hers off of his chest and backwards—back, back, back until her wrists were pinned behind her against the thick trunk of the tree. She had lost her balance on her knees in the movement, and she fell back on her rear. He was leaning over her now, face even closer than before, close enough to feel his hot breath on her face.

“Do you trust me, Kagome?” he said doubtfully.

Kagome’s breath caught. “Inu—”

“Prove it. Don’t sit me.”

Before she could question him, his nose was at her throat. He opened his mouth—she could feel his heavy sigh—and he grazed his teeth against the skin there. “I don’t blame you for being afraid of me without them,” he said bitterly. “It’d be easy for me to kill you.”

“You would never,” she whispered, eyes clenching shut at the feel of him on top of her, at the strength of his hands, at the edges of his teeth. 

Something like a whine escaped him. “Sit me,” he said.

“No.” She angled her chin toward him, cocooning him even closer to her throat. 

“Do it,” he begged, hands tightening around her wrists.

“Inuyasha,” she crooned.

Her tone was more effective than that damned word ever could have been. He tore himself from her neck and stared down at her with an expression so pained that her heart ached. Their eyes met with an intensity he wasn’t ready for—and when she broke away to look at his mouth, he looked like he was going to lose his godforsaken mind. 

As a final nail in his coffin, she tilted her head up to brush her nose against his. “I trust you,” she said again, and he was off of her in a flash. 

Chest panting, he watched in awe as she sat up, brushed her fingers over her neck, and eyed him sadly. 

“Kagome, I…” He trailed off, the apology sitting on his tongue. 

“It’s okay,” she said. “I know you didn’t mean it.”

She was wrong, though. He did mean it. He meant everything he had done. Maybe not everything he’d said, but… there was something depraved inside of him that enjoyed hearing her heart beat insanely beneath him. Whatever it was—whether it was the demon inside of him, or the man even deeper within—he knew that whatever it was that gave him pleasure at seeing her flustered and heated and pliant was what the beads were really for. 

He would never hurt her—he knew that. He prayed she did now, too. But he also knew that there were different kinds of pain, and while he knew he would never hurt her with his hands, he couldn’t say the same about his words… or about his mouth, in general. 

And it was for days like today, when temperatures were running a little too hot, when words were flying a little too sharp, that he needed that extra incentive to stay in line. To not push her (or himself) too far. To remember that she was still just a girl, and he was almost fully a man, and that that might matter even more than the fact that she was human and he was not.

Maybe one day it would be different. Maybe one day, she would be ready to take those beads off of him—to keep him in line the way that he wished she would, with different words and a different method. A better method.

But in the meantime, he supposed they could just keep bickering like they always have, as if petty little arguments were really the worst thing he could do to warrant a kiss to the dirt.

“Inuyasha,” she said, pulling him out of himself again.

With just a look, he understood her, and he gathered her onto his back. They were back at the outskirts of camp before the others even noticed they were gone.

But what they did notice was Kagome’s commanding voice as she let fly one resounding word, and the loud crash (and wince) that followed immediately after. 

They also noticed that he didn’t even complain about it.