~Pros and Cons of Puppy Ears~

(rating for mild language)

He hated the damn things.

HATED.

It happened again – there they all were, fighting some nameless, brainless lizard demon who was hyped up on his jewel-shard steroid but didn't have the first clue how to really use it, and the thing decided to start throwing insults in the hopes of putting him off his game.

As if.

The slimy bastard obviously didn't have enough wit to come up with anything worth saying, but it opened its trap anyways, stroking its own feeble ego and spewing mind-numbingly uncreative put-downs at the same time.

He had dog ears.

He got it.

He was acutely aware of the fact that he was half dog demon, thank you very much.

But really, could no one think of any more… original insults? At least one that he hadn't already heard at least a dozen times?

Mutt. Mongrel. Dog-breath. Puppy.

The ears were obvious and a delightfully easy target.

That was exactly why he hated them.

So much of his time was spent trying to act tough, trying to seem like the bad-guy… at the very least he wanted some fear-inspired respect.

But no - no matter how hard a scowl he wore, no matter how guttural and feral his growling went, no matter how deep the crease between his eyebrows sunk, his powdery white ears would inevitably twitch and betray him with their positively puppyish look, and he'd lose every ounce of intimidation he fought so hard to build.

And it wasn't like he could turn the tables either and use them to his advantage with humans: no matter how soft his eyes were, no matter how wide his smile stretched, no matter if he was successful in hiding his claws and fangs and super-human strength, villagers would see those twitchy, inhuman ears, and all hell would break loose.

He often thought if he were more of a man, he could just hack the damn things off and walk around with open holes on his head.

Yeah, it would be a stupid thing to do, but he'd probably get more respect.

At the very least he'd get farther into a fight before the enemy picked up on what he was.

But as the little white doggy-ears which were still on his head indicated, he wasn't enough of a man to ever do such a thing.

And besides… he had warm memories (tucked very far back in his mind, never to be spoken of and seldom to be remembered) of his mother affectionately scratching behind those same ears saying how much she loved them, and that always put a damper on his desire to self-maim.

But the thought was still there, and he couldn't deny he wouldn't mind if they became the casualty of a brawl; his brother would probably do it without him even having to ask.

Despite all his grumbling however, the ears remained perched happily in his snowy mane of hair, an ever present symbol of his half-demon nature.

They mocked him, really – like he had inherited some of his dog-demon father's great legacy and blood, but he could never fully access it.

He couldn't turn into a giant dog like his father and brother could.

He couldn't even create a more 'human' visage as camouflage like they did.

He was caught in this weird, half-transformed, partially animal state of being from which not even the surge of his demon blood taking over his body could save him.

He got a momentary reprieve once every New Moon, but if there was one thing he hated more than his ears, it was his weak human body, so he took little pleasure in the change.

Those damn fuzzy triangles were nothing more than a constant reminder of his inescapable fate, his loathed existence, his half-and-half heritage and he detested them.

But he had no choice – he was stuck with them.

And that wasn't going to change probably… ever.

Damn his ears.

"What's eating you?"

The friendly, teasing tone of the black-haired girl next to him did little to lighten his mood.

He wasn't always brooding under clouds of self-hatred, but after fights with petty and annoying demons as had occurred that day, he would find those little dark clouds hovering over his head raining gloomy thoughts that dripped right into those damn furry things.

Needless to say, he was not feeling the least bit conversational.

Getting no more than a curt and rumbled growl in response to her query, Kagome rolled her eyes, recognizing her companion's current mood for what it was: he was letting something get to him that he really shouldn't waste time on.

She looked over at him, watching his body language closely, as his verbal language was evidently going to aide her little in understanding his problem.

He was tense and curled up into his usual defensive, brooding stance: legs crossed, arms crossed, hunched over and staring at nothing in particular with the most baleful glare he could muster, growling and muttering under his breath.

It was nothing new, except for….

Except for the frantically twitching dog-ears perched atop his head, moving madly of their own accord as if trying to listen to all the sounds of a crowded battle-field at once.

Only there was no battle going on, and the chirping birds and breeze rustling through the tree above them were hardly noises on which Inuyasha usually chose to focus.

'I wonder if they're hurting him…' she thought, concern growing in her eyes, 'it can't be comfortable to have them flicking around so much like that.'

She watched him a few minutes longer, but the twitching didn't stop, and he didn't seem aware that she was even next to him anymore.

Watching his over-active ears and noting his distracted state of mind, Kagome quickly came to a conclusion and acted on it before she had time to question her (quite rash) decision.

She scooted closer, leaning against the side of his body, and reached her arms up quick as she could, one arm wrapping slightly behind his head, the other bent at the side, and latched her hands onto his velvety puppy ears.

He started out of his haze violently, yanking his head out of her hands, but she was undeterred and only reached for his ears again.

"The HELL you doin', Kagome?"

She huffed but didn't stop reaching for him, despite his best efforts to swat her hands away.

"I was just trying to help you relax! You're obviously really stressed out right now."

"Yeah, 'cause some crazy wench is trying to pull my ears off!"

Her touch became gentler as she retorted "I wouldn't have to pull on them if you would just stop squirming!"

He scoffed at that, jamming his hands into his sleeves as he glared at her and said "Likely story."

Kagome sighed dejectedly, retracting her hands and turning sad eyes on the half-demon, saying softly "Don't you trust me? I would never purposely hurt you. I was just going to give you a little massage. It'll feel good – I promise! What harm can it do?"

Inuyasha's mouth was stuck in a steely frown, but the faint dusting across his cheeks of pink brought a hesitant smile back to Kagome's face.

"C'mon, just give it a try! I'm sure it'll make you feel better."

She just looked so insistent, so concerned, so… well, his ears were starting to ache….

As if he cared what happened to the damn things anyways.

Without a word (but with a bit of a huff) Inuyasha abruptly turned his back to face her and, ever so subtly, tilted his head back towards her.

She needed no further invitation, and soon her fingers were back to rubbing his ears, alternating between strokes and gentle circles, caressing the tips and massaging the bases, careful not to tangle his silver mane and mindful not to pull the wispy hairs at the openings….

He thanked whatever gods were watching that the monk and the demon slayer were back at the village, as a rumbling growl started somewhere in the back of his throat, completely against his will.

'Damn that feels good….'

As Kagome continued to (dare he think, lovingly?) pet his ever troublesome and altogether detested canine appendages, making him melt into a contented pile of half-demon mush, Inuyasha couldn't help the surprising and traitorous thought 'maybe these ears aren't so bad after all.'

*Author's Note:

… shameless fluff centered around Inuyasha's adorable and utterly un-intimidating ears.

I kinda feel bad for the guy. I mean, he's such a BAMF, but he's totally undermined by the cutesy ears and other doggy behaviors. Which is exactly why I love him. If he didn't have the ears, or didn't have the attitude, he just wouldn't be the same.