~A Surplus of Stories, a collection of Inuyasha drabbles~

Salt-Mine

*set post-canon*

She couldn't have been more on edge if there'd been a cliff under her feet.

Her breath was caught in her throat, eyes and ears and every sense trained on him and him alone, waiting desperately for his reaction.

"Well? What do you think?!"

He sat next to her, bowl in hand, chopsticks still raised to his mouth, chewing thoughtfully, his eyes closed in concentration.

He swallowed, then raised the bowl to his lips, sipping slowly at the broth.

It had taken her so long to get this right – if he didn't like it now, after all that hard work….

Why was he taking so long to respond?

He swallowed the liquid, then sat for a moment, evidently still mulling over the taste in his mouth.

And then he gave his verdict.

"The noodles are good, but it needs more salt."

She could have strangled him.

That's just what she got for feeding him sodium-laced legal addictive substances for so long.

"There is no more salt."

Despite her deadpan voice, he seemed not to get the hint and plunged on "We'll just get some more then."

She was bodily resisting the urge to tug sharply on his little doggy-ears.

"With what? Salt is expensive here Inuyasha, in case you haven't noticed, and I'm not trading anymore of my belongings just to make you ramen!"

Apparently he still wasn't getting the danger he was in as he responded "Just trade one of your kimonos – you look better without them anyways!"

His roguish smirk abruptly fell as one of her chopsticks smacked him across the cheek.

"Hey! You coulda stabbed me in the eye with that thing!"

"Look, unless you sniff out a salt mine or somehow find a mountain of gold, it's not getting any saltier, so just deal with it!"

She turned away with a huff, and suddenly Inuyasha could smell salt – the kind he hated.

Finally, he got his mistake.

"Aw geeze, c'mon Kagome, don't cry! I didn't mean it."

Putting down his bowl of homemade ramen and scooting closer to her, he reached out and pulled his wife into a hug.

She sniffled and her eyes remained scrunched in an angry way, but she didn't pull away or fight back, so he figured she'd be okay.

"Look, I'm sorry I said it needed salt. It did taste good. Not exactly the same, but still good. I was just trying to help!"

She sniffled again and wrapped her arms around his torso as she said thickly "I know, I just… I wanted it to be just right! I know how much you used to love ramen, and I just wanted to make you happy!"

Kagome was surprised to hear Inuyasha laugh good-naturedly, his voice warm as he said "Idiot woman, you think I need a damn bowl of noodles to make me happy?"

She paused, looking up at him awkwardly from her spot against his chest as she said meekly "Uh… yes?"

He laughed again, and her heart did little cartwheels at the sound.

"Stupid, you do a fine job of that without the noodles."

*Author's Note:

Aah, married life.

Full of ups and downs and failed meals.

But as long as it's full of love, that's what really matters.