Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. And I do not intent to gain any kind of retribution for this work of fanfiction.

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Reunion

Chapter 3. Headache

They were in front of the classroom. Kagome had walked to the wolf youkai to greet him and the bastard had done it in a way that angered the hanyou.

Inuyasha's mind was spinning, and not in a 'liquor-induced' kind of way. More in 'a voice hammering his skull' repeating the wolf's words. The wolf had called her 'Kitten'. It had hugged her. Hugged! her!

Something he had been wanting to do since he came back! And then the fucker had gloated about being her ex-husband.

He hated the flea-bag! Hated him in a way that defied his feeling range. A hate that twisted his gut and made him want to drive his claws into something!

After giving him a quick glance, Kagome started stroking Inuyasha's arms in a calming manner. His attention moved briefly to the woman at his side, whose eyes went back and forth between them. Inuyasha tried to take a long breath, that escaped him in the form of a low reverberating growl when the mocking wolf's eyes made contact with his.

"What did they do, now?" She asked without taking her hand off Inuyasha, slowly stroking his arm, moving it closer to his hand, until she took it and laced their fingers.

Inuyasha fought the need to look down and check if what he was feeling was real. The quick quirked brow and glance the other man gave to their hands convinced him it was real, and it was instantly calming.

Kouga barked a laugh. "Looks like they said mean things to each other until one of them-I think yours- got physical and they fought," he explained in a casual manner.

Another growl came from Inuyasha. The wolf was blaming his pup! Accusing golden eyes focused on Kagome as he registered she was NOT defending their pup. The stare was ignored as she kept talking with the stupid wolf in front of him. Which angered him even more.

Kagome sighed looking tired. "They hadn't had a fight in a while... it was good while it lasted."

"Too good to be true," The twins' father conceded.

"So, the teacher is waiting for us?" She asked with a tired voice as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose with a frown.

"Yep... migraine?" Kouga tilted his head with a concerned look in his eyes.

Which only managed to upset Inuyasha more. The closeness and camaraderie between them was difficult to witness as it only managed to bring to light everything Kagome and himself did not share.

"Yep." Kagome pointed to the classroom. "Go ahead, we'll go in a bit."

"Sure?" Kouga asked with a velvety voice and a half smile, giving a quick glance towards Inuyasha's direction. Making clear the reason of his question.

Another growl formed in Inuyasha's chest. This time her eyes did come to him, in the form of an irritated side glance before she turned to the wolf again.

"Just go, Kouga," she ordered with her mom voice.

The wolf youkai nodded. The half smile still in place as he walked inside of the classroom.

"Inuyasha-" she called him with a calm voice.

"Good thing you remember I'm still here," he interrupted her with a pissy voice.

"Knock it off and behave like a father, please."

Her words were delivered calmly, with an even and dry voice and they hit him harder than if she had struck him. It was something close to a wake up call. It was not the time to be-not jealous- just envious of the things that they shared and his relationship with Kagome lacked. He was there as Asahi's father, and so he was to behave.

Inuyasha nodded with his brows furrowed. His serious eyes staring directly at her and his ears pointing slightly down. "I'll behave."

"Good." Kagome squeezed his hand and started to explain with a calmer voice. "Kouga's boys and Asahi are good friends..."

Inuyasha opened his mouth and it seemed that Kagome knew him too well, because instead of letting him fuck things up with an insult, her finger shot to his lips and her eyes showed with impressive clearness how much she didn't want to deal with his bad mood right now.

He closed his mouth and nodded for her to talk again. "And as friends usually do, from time to time, they fight. And their fights are usually strong... and sometimes violent."

Kagome sighed as Inuyasha mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "My kid can take on any mangy wolf," as his eyes danced away from her face. She let it pass, not wanting to lose time fighting over that kind of remark. If he needed to make the distinction, she would let him.

Kagome rolled her eyes at him and continued. "Remember what I said about disciplining him?"

He grumbled a 'yes.'

She looked at him solemnly. "Ok, this is your first test. You need to show him that fighting is wrong, and how fighting with friends is even worse... and doing it at school..." She left the sentence open, knowing the meaning was clear.

Inuyasha's back straightened and crossed his arms on his chest, with his brows still furrowed.

Kagome felt his hand leave hers and the sense of loss was a surprise. Keeping their physical connection hadn't been something she had given too much thought until that moment and now she felt slightly confused as it became clear to her that she wanted to touch him again.

Her attention went back to her belligerent hanyou when he spoke, "It's not wrong to fight back when others are messing with him...".

Kagome's first instinct was to tell him wrong, yet his voice was not aggressive. He had spoken with a serious voice. From his stance and the serious look of his eyes, she got the impression Inuyasha was not saying that to start a fight, but he was talking from experience.

Her head tilted as she studied his tense form. "Well, I guess sometimes that might be right." Her hand rested softly on his arm as she spoke carefully. "But we are talking about our son. We need to teach him that using his strength to fight is the last resource. If he fights a human, he could do something we will all regret."

Kagome tried to convey the importance of the matter not only with her words. "If we want him to be like other children, to be included and to play freely with others, he needs to know that fighting is not an option..."

Inuyasha stared at her with an intensity that made her breath hitch. Something important was hidden behind those golden eyes. She opened her lips to say something at the same time he gave a court nod.

"True," his grave voice ghosted around her for a moment before she managed to break the strange trance.

Kagome cleared her throat softly. "This time, let me handle it..." She shrugged with an amused smile in place "It's not the first time Kouga and I have been called to the teacher's or principal's office for a fight." Inuyasha's nose scrunched but he remained silent, slightly conflicted between saying something about the natural way she talked about the wolf, and truth behind that statement.

Her hand took his again and pulled him to the classroom.

As they walked to the door, Inuyasha was increasingly uncomfortable and insecure about his role in this situation. Was he supposed to be listening and let everything happen normally as if he was not there? Or had he the right to speak up if there was the need? The only thing he knew was that there was no way in hell he was letting the wolf blame his pup for what happened. Even if that meant an argument with Kagome at home.

Kagome opened the door and inside the classroom were five people: the stupid wolf; beside him two wolf cubs who didn't look like their father, nor resembled each other even if Kagome said they were twins; an old hag that must be the teacher; and his son. Inuyasha felt his temper rise when the other man smirked as their eyes met. Inuyasha needed to punch that stupid face.

As soon as the old woman saw them, or better said, saw Kagome, she stood up to greet the younger woman. At the same time, Asahi looked up and when his golden eyes found his father's, his ears dropped and he whined. Inuyasha made an effort to keep his face neutral, trying not to smile at the pathetic sounding whine.

Kagome had instructed him to be serious about this, even if his son was too adorable to keep the scowl.

"Kagome. Nice to see you. Too bad it has to be in these sad circumstances," said the old woman with a voice way too smooth for her age.

Kagome nodded and let go of his hand to point at him politely. "I'd like to introduce you to Inuyasha, Asahi's father."

The old hag's smile widened slightly with a well hidden surprise as she studied him for a moment before making a small bow. "Nice to meet you, Inuyasha. I'm happy you can join us. Asahi has been talking about you all week. I'm Kaede, Asahi's teacher." She gave him a warm smile that told him she knew more about their situation than that.

"Yeah, the same," he answered with a slow bow.

The woman turned to the rest of the occupants with the calm smile still firmly in its place and pulled another chair to the small circle that they had formed. She indicated Asahi to sit between his parents, and Kouga to sit between his children. She sat between Kagome and one of the wolf boys.

Inuyasha felt a twisted smile slowly appear on his face as the wolf was not seated beside Kagome. He was fast at erasing that smile as soon as Kagome saw him and glared at him.

At the same time, Asahi was on his chair, oblivious to their parents little wordless argument. His little back curved and he avoided looking at either of his parents' faces.

"Now that we are all here," the teacher started with the same smile on her lips and warm brown eyes dancing between the rest of them, "I'd like to thank you parents, for coming so quickly. I'd like to start by telling you what we've been talking about before you arrived. Is that ok with you, children?"

The three children nodded slowly.

"Very good... Lookslike they said things that were mean. Things that hurt their friends and unfortunately they fought physically. I'd like for you children to explain to your parents what was said to make you feel the need to fight with a beloved friend. Hakkaku?"

Inuyasha thought the way the teacher phrased the question was weird. It was easy for him to identify Hakkaku, as one of the twins opened his eyes wide, eyes that had been focused on the floor until that moment. The kid looked around, then rested his eyes on his father, and he gave a whine very similar to the one Asahi made before.

"Oh, um. Can Ginta answer that?" he asked timidly pointing at his brother.

Before the old lady said something, it was Kouga's voice that echoed around them. "She asked you Hakkaku. Answer."

The half demon's eyebrow arched in appreciation. The wolf's voice was definitely different than how he had sounded in the hallway. This had no sign of amusement, and left not room for negotiation.

"Yes, dad! Oh... Umm... well," the kid squirmed a bit before staring at Asahi and pointing at him, "He has been saying the same things over and over again!" the boy huffed annoyed. "He just didn't shut up about his dad!"

Slowly Asahi started to straighten on his chair as he glared at Hakkaku, his cheeks flushed but his eyes serious.

"He kept saying the same thing about his dad?" asked Kaede softly.

"Yes!" The twin spat with the conviction that the situation was completely explained by a single word as only children have.

"And you were angry because Asahi was happy about his dad?" she tried again.

"Yes! Wait, no! It's not because of that!" The kid shook his head vigorously when his explanation was twisted.

"Then, what was the problem? I don't understand."

Kaede's voice sounded artificially tender in Inuyasha's ears but it made the kid stop and think before answering. Immediately the other twin, Ginta, raised his hand to talk and the teacher gave him the word.

"He kept talking about his dad, and how his dad was the best, and there was no other dad like his. We knew he didn't have a dad, so we told him so, and ehh umm..." The boy averted his eyes and continued with a small voice. "We told him he was a liar..."

"And you still think he was lying?" said the teacher.

Both twins answered in unison with a quiet, "No."

"You got mad that he said his dad was the best?" pressed the teacher.

"Yes..." in unison came the answer again, this time loud.

"Ok... let me ask a question to the three of you... who is the best dad ever?"

Again, in unison, this time Asahi joined with "Mine!"

"See how the best dad for every kid is their own?"

The children mumbled something that sounded like, "But mine's better," as they looked down again.

The corners of Inuyasha's mouth twitched upward with the grumpy mumble of his son's complaint. It was kind of cute that his boy had gotten into a fight because of his father's awesomeness.

Inuyasha cleared his throat and schooled his features when Kagome's not-so-amused eyes focused on him again.

"Every dad is the best dad for their children. That is why your dad is the best dad to you," the teacher pointed out with that fabricated calmness that carried steel underneath, making eye contact with every child in the room. As their eyes met, they squirmed in a really funny way.

The teacher gave a few moments for them to calm again before adding, "Was that why you hit Asahi, Hakkaku?"

Inuyasha's eyes darted to the adult wolf youkai with a smug expression. It hadn't been Asahi who gave the first punch! Inuyasha wanted to rub it in his face. Blue eyes moved towards him as if feeling Inuyasha's stare and the hanyou held his mocking face slightly shaking his head. Kouga huffed softly and ignored the other man.

Hakkaku shook his head and muttered a "no."

"Asahi, what do you think made Hakkaku feel so bad that he wanted to hurt you?" Kaede turned to Asahi for the first time.

The golden eyed boy looked at both his parents and then Kouga before staring at his small hands. "Because I said something to hurt him first." His black ears lowered as he explained it.

"What happened?" tried the teacher again.

"Ginta said that I didn't have a dad, and told me his dad was the best... then I said a really- really- bad thing..." He stretched the word.

"What did you say, Asahi?"

"I don't want to say it, it's too bad," he whimpered.

Kaede looked at Kagome and pointed discreetly at Asahi. Kagome nodded and turned to her son.

"Are you afraid of hurting someone by saying that again?" asked Kagome. Asahi nodded at her. Inuyasha could smell the tears that were forming.

"Who do you think is going to get hurt if you say it?" she asked again.

Asahi pointed fast at Inuyasha and Kouga before lowering his hand to his lap.

"I'm sure they will understand, they know you said it when you were angry and you don't really mean it... right?"

In unison the fathers answered, Kouga with a "right" and Inuyasha with an "of course."

Asahi turned to his father with pleading eyes and Inuyasha stroked his head, not doubting his instinct and supporting his son. "It will be ok, pup. Just say it."

As Inuyasha looked up, he found Kagome staring at him with surprise. He smiled smugly. He was doing it right. Kagome could practically hear his voice in her head saying 'See, wench? I can do this kind of shit too'. She glared at Inuyasha, trying to tell him to "behave!" again.

They both looked down in time to see Asahi square his shoulder and turn to the teacher before saying "I told them that they were the ones without a dad because I had my real dad now and their dad was mine first, before being theirs." He gave them a quick look through his lashes before finishing "...that is why Hakkaku hit me."

Inuyasha's eyes went wide. That was a really good low blow, incredibly good for a seven year boy was really skilled with his tongue. With the corner of his eye, he studied the calm face of Kagome. That definitely didn't come from him. That ability was all Kagome's. He fought the impulse to nod appreciatively.

"And how do you think it made them feel?" The teacher inquired with a softer voice. This time it didn't sound fake on his silver ears.

Asahi's eyes started to water before he spoke, "Sad, and angry!"

"Was that how you felt when they said your dad wasn't real?"

The boy used the back of his hand to wipe his snot and nodded energetically.

"You want to say something to them?"

He didn't bother answering the teacher. He turned to the twins and between sobs he shouted "I'm sorry! Uncle Kouga is your dad and he is a great dad! I didn't want to hit you Hakkaku, and I'm sorry I bit you Ginta!"

Kagome and Inuyasha's hands touched as they both moved to stroke Asahi's back, smiling softly to each other before paying attention to the rest of the boys.

"Is there something you want to say, Hakkaku?" The teacher asked to one of the now sobbing twins.

The teary eyed and snot-nosed child nodded.

"I'm sorry I hit you too, and your dad is real!"

Ginta nodded nonstop as his brother spoke.

"If you want, you can hug your friends," Kaede finished with a smile in her voice.

Using their special speed, the three of them launched at each other, and the sound of heads colliding and three different cries of "ouch" sounded around the room. The mumbled apologies told the adults everything was fine.

Kaede smiled at the three adults.

"Thank you for coming, and you can go when they are ready to go."

They nodded and said goodbye to the teacher, walking back to the hall.

Soon after the children were laughing between trembling breaths, Inuyasha felt a small hand pull his. Asahi was staring at him; after the kid was sure he had his father's attention, he turned to his friends and announced proudly.

"This is my dad!"

The wolf cubs looked up and pointed at his head. "He has ears like yours!" said in awe.

Inuyasha flicked them one at a time, making the kids giggle.

"Time to go, cubs. Mom's waiting," Kouga announced with a serious voice. The twins waved goodbye before standing in front of their father without saying anything but staring at him with bright eyes.

Kouga let out a long overdramatic sigh before kneeling down, "Come here, you dumb-dumbs."

The kids rapidly latched onto his neck and nestled on each side of his chest.

"Bye, Kitten. Mutt." The last word almost huffed.

Kagome waved them goodbye before turning to her boys. Inuyasha was glaring at her, again.

She walked past him without a glance and walked towards Asahi. She was sure Inuyasha had asked "Kitten, huh?" in a bitter way as she passed.

It was not the time nor place to pay attention to his waste of jealousy. And it was also not the time to think about why, exactly, she thought of it as a waste, nor why it gave her a tiny satisfaction.

Kneeling down she looked at her son, who was currently holding his father's hand without saying a word, sniffling from time to time.

"Ready to go, baby?" she asked with a soft tone.

Instead of answering, Asahi's eyes went wide and the his brows lowered with a preoccupied expression.

"What's wrong?" she asked again.

Asahi tilted his head. "You're not gonna tell me I did wrong and that I'm grounded?"

Kagome gave him a half smile and caressed his cheek. "I think you know it was wrong..."

The boy nodded energetically.

"And that you will be more careful with your words next time."

He nodded again.

"And," she looked up to Inuyasha's face, "I need to talk with your dad before deciding if you are grounded or not."

His head stopped moving mid-nod, and his ears went low. "Ohh..." he added, disappointed.

"Let's go!" Kagome chirped and started to walk to the door.

She reached the door and opened it, turning around she noticed the boys were not behind her. They were still standing in the same place, hand in hand, looking uncomfortable. Asahi kept his face down, stealing glances to his father from the corner of his eye. Inuyasha was glaring at a general direction, and atop of both of their heads their ears were flicking unceasingly.

"What's wrong?" She asked cautiously.

Neither of them answered her. Kagome was prepared to mediate between the pair when Asahi let go of his father's hand and stood up in front of Inuyasha with a preoccupied face as he looked directly into the golden eyes. His black ears went down as his eyes lost their spark of determination and softened to an unspoken plead.

Inuyasha lost no time: he reached down and held him, in a way that resembled how Kouga had hugged his kids before leaving. He managed to curl his arms around Inuyasha's neck and circle his dad's waist with his legs as he nuzzled the man's throat.

Kagome wondered if it was some kind of dog youkai thing because as soon as Asahi's nose made contact with Inuyasha's neck, the father turned and rubbed the side of the child's face with his own and he made that deep rumble in his chest she liked so much. She was almost sure a couple of licks were traded too.

With a much more relaxed Asahi in his arms Inuyasha caught up to Kagome at the door and they exited the classroom. As they reached the car Kagome also wondered since when did Inuyasha have his hand on her waist.

-.-.-.-.-.-

The ride to back was silent after Asahi asked what was wrong with mom and she explained she had a migraine. Being familiarized with that particular pain of hers, Asahi knew that silence and space was what she needed.

Her temple was pulsing and she could feel the pain as a spiderweb expanding from her temple to the rest of her head. She covered one of her eyes with the back of her hand and breathed in slowly.

Kagome could feel Inuyasha's worried eyes on her as she walked to the door. She felt his hand shoot out to her waist when she wobbled slightly on the steps.

"Ehh, umm..." she heard him say, "why don't you lay down for a while?" His voice was low and gentle.

Kagome turned to him, surprised for his thoughtfulness. He must have seen something in her eyes because his worried and focused face suddenly blushed and his eyes darted to the side at the same time his left hand came to his head to scratch behind his ear.

"Well, yeah. You need to rest, and we can survive a few hours without you." He tried a timid smile.

She was grateful for his attempts to make her feel better. It was uncharacteristic of him to think about other people, or notice things in other people. Maybe she was being unfair; he was not a teenager anymore. Inuyasha was no longer the troubled and heartbroken young man she had left behind all those years ago. Even if he hadn't changed completely, there were aspects that were vastly different from the kid she had loved. The fact that she could get to know his adult self was both exciting and nerve wracking.

"I think I will, thank you," she accepted with a sincere smile.

Beside them, their son stood looking back and forth between them with his backpack still on.

"Asahi, listen to your dad. Put your things where they should go, change your clothes and help your dad in what he asks, ok?"

Asahi's face illuminated. And Kagome could almost hear him in her head as he planned everything he wanted to do with his father. She felt a little nervous.

"Listen to your dad, Asahi!"

His eyes big and almost trembling with excitement he finally answered with a nod and watched his mom walk to her room.

Inuyasha wasn't sure about how to proceed with things. Overthinking always made things worse, right? That's why he decided to go through the motions in the way that felt more natural.

Twenty minutes later he found himself with an almost naked boy in the kitchen, leisurely sitting on the stool he had occupied with only his white briefs on.

"What are we going to cook, dad?" His golden eyes expectant and his smile showing the long but still human fangs he had.

Inuyasha scratched behind his ear again. "Well... I have no idea."

Asahi frowned with his head resting on his hands, "Me neither..."

"What about you putting some clothes on?" Inuyasha tried.

Asahi's ears went down on his head. "B-but! Mom let's me stay in my boxers!" His voice was whiny and his little hands turned into fists against the counter.

"I don't think she let's you be in the kitchen naked," Inuyasha explained trying to imitate the tone Kagome used to explain why he should do things he didn't like to do.

He may not know much about what Kagome did as a mom. But he was sure that letting their child risk a burn on naked skin was not one of them. The hanyou could almost hear Kagome's words about disciplining their son.

"Then you have to choose: get dressed and be in the kitchen with me, or stay in your boxers and wait in the living room. One or the other... "

Asahi's mouth slowly fell open. This was not what he expected. His dad wasn't supposed to say no to HIM. He was his DAD, not mom.

"But... but, I want to cook with you!"

Inuyasha reached down and put his little body on his shoulder in a swift movement making him giggle. "Then we need to get you dressed!"

Asahi playfully squirmed as Inuyasha gave a few warning growls as they walked to the pup's room.

It took them another half an hour to finish and come back to the kitchen. The fridge was open and he was staring at its contents with no idea what to make with them. Asahi looked with him and kept suggesting they ordered something.

"Mom won't get angry," was repeated for the fifth time. The fact that one of his ears flicked nervously every time he said it made Inuyasha think he was lying.

The hanyou also wondered if that was how Kagome always seemed to know when he was lying.

"What about we make a list and go grocery shopping and cook something to help your mom feel better?"

Asahi jumped beside him. "Yes! We can make her my special soup she likes! And we can buy her things she likes! And we can cook other things! And we can eat together! And... And... mom will feel better!" He finished with a brilliant smile.

They sat at the kitchen bar, and with his phone, Inuyasha started the list that was titled 'Store list'. Inuyasha was trying to remember what ingredients he needed to buy for a 'feel better' soup. He could hear his pup moving around him.

The boy first moved the things on the counter. It looked like Asahi didn't find whatever he was looking for because he stood up pouting and circled the bar looking for something on the ground. Inuyasha was about to ask what he was doing when his son moved his head up and sniffed, first the air, then his rapidly moving nose turned to the table and with narrowed eyes Asahi took one last sniff close to his father's hands.

His small shoulders slumped along with his ears drooping on his sides. "You ate them..." His voice low and sad but his eyes remained accusing.

"Yeah, sorry pup," Inuyasha said feeling his ears mirroring the boy's.

"You ate them!" This time both his eyes and voice were angry.

The father tried to smile, "I was hungry and I ate them..."

"But they were mine!" His foot stomped on the floor. "Not yours! Mom said I could only eat them after school! And you ate them!"

Inuyasha was quietly watching as the anger, that he considered unnecessary, rose in his son's body. Listening to the boy's voice as it grew louder at the same time his eyes became red. Thinking it was enough he raised a hand in a conciliatory way.

Asahi frowned and jerkily took a couple of breaths in, but didn't say anything else.

"I will buy you what I ate when we go to the grocery store, but if you wake up your mom... There won't be any snacks today." His voice was as calm as he could make it and everything was enunciated carefully.

His boy stared at him for a moment, tilting his head to the side. Suddenly he felt the need to laugh as he realized his son was trying to guess if he was capable of carrying through with what he said or not.

"You have to decide. You want snacks? Let's finish this and go to the store. You don't wanna? Keep shouting and wake up your mom."

More silence, before a curt nod from the black eared boy. "I want to eat fruit. And you can buy my snacks." The boy was still pouting but after he delivered the request with a dry voice, he walked to his seat on the table and propped his head on both of his hands, staring at his father.

Inuyasha was not used to fast changing moods and was confused as he reached for a couple of bananas and gave one to his son.

The half of his son's fruit was gone when his little finger pointed at his phone and with his mouth full of food he indicated, "Don't forget to write 'Asahi's Snacks. A-sa-hi's."

Inuyasha raised a brow at the boy's attitude, but wrote it anyway.

The list wasn't of much help as after another ten minutes they had: 'Asahi's snacks', 'Asahi's special soup', which Inuyasha didn't understand as much as Asahi tried to explain what it was, the only clear thing was that the boy knew where to find the ingredients in the store, 'main dish', 'dessert', 'drink' and 'something for Kagome' and with his surprisingly good hand writing the boy added 'snacks' and 'many' explaining his mom liked snacks a lot.

They got ready much faster than he thought possible and soon Asahi was securely sitting on the back seat and they were on the way to the store. Before going outside the boy had assured his father how easy it was to go there and how he knew the fastest way.

It became clear to Inuyasha a couple of minutes later that it was not a good idea to take directions from an eight-year-old as the first one was "You need to turn left here!" The boy pointed at the direction he said at the same time the car crossed the intersection, "Back there". His head was now turned to the back. "Why didn't you turn, dad?" The question was innocent, Inuyasha could hear it in his voice but the fact he was being blamed for not being able to turn when Asahi told him too late, made him almost grit his teeth.

He was looking for a place to make a U turn. "Because i didn't have time," was his explanation.

"Ohh! Because you drive too fast?" For the boy it was the only explanation possible, because he had said when to turn. Asahi clicked his tongue in a way that resembled his mom too much for his father's liking. "You shouldn't drive fast here, there are parks and schools close by."

Inuyasha fought the need to grit his teeth and took a long breath before assuring his son, "I'm being careful, pup."

Asahi gave him a noncommittal noise that reminded him of Kagome.

A couple of minutes later Inuyasha had never felt so relieved to see a grocery store in his life.

"We found it!" Asahi yelped from the back.

As soon as they were outside a small hand took his and pulled him to the store. "Let's go dad!"

The feeling of having the trusting hand of his son holding his own was something that trumped any kind of negative emotion he could be feeling at any point of the day.

The warm wave of love that always hit him when the reality of what was happening, the great luck he had made him take a long breath, this time to avoid a trembling voice as he said "Come on! Hands up, pup!"

Asahi smiled and happily complied, giggling when his father lifted him up.

"Let's put you in your seat."

Inuyasha didn't expect drastic change between the giggling child he had picked up and the now shouting and squirming child in his arms as he walked to the carts.

"I'm not a baby! I'm not a baby!" Asahi shouted.

He still didn't understand the situation and the quick change into outrage as he tried to be considerate father. "I know you're not a baby," he said as he put the kid down.

"I'm not sitting in the baby seat!"

"... what baby seat?"

Asahi breathed out an exasperated huff and pointed to the seat on the cart. "THAT baby seat!"

"Then where are you sitting?"

Inuyasha tried to remember the few times he had paid attention to people with kids and he could clearly pinpoint where kids sit. He was almost positive he had seen them either walking beside the cart or in the seat.

Asahi paused before pointing to the basket part of the cart, "There!"

Inuyasha arched a brow, thinking that maybe that wasn't a good idea. "I don't think your mom would like that..."

Asahi shook his head, "My mom always let me sit there!"

The father was not sure but wanted to keep moving and he didn't foresee any kind of danger for his son being there.

Asahi giggled again when Inuyasha made an exaggerated sound of exertion as he lowered the boy into the cart.

They started moving towards the first isle.

"What's first on our list?" the hanyou asked, already expecting certain answer.

"My snacks!" A serious pair of golden eyes focused on Inuyasha before continuing "...that you ate..."

"If you keep pushing it boy... you won't get any..."

His voice voice was slow and flat and Asahi's eyes went wide. The boy opened his mouth to say something, but after a couple of seconds his eyes narrowed again and pursed his lips with puffed cheeks before turning his head to the side.

With that particular crisis averted, a half confused, half proud Inuyasha pushed the cart through the closest aisle, that had a variety of refrigerated beverages. Inuyasha passed most of them as he remembered how Kagome always used to go on and on about how nasty beverages with artificial flavors were.

Asahi suddenly pointed at the refrigerator at the same time he yelped with a smile on his face. "My mom loves Banana milk!"

Inuyasha arched a brow and the boy avoided his eyes with the guiltiest expression he had ever seen in a kid. Hiding his smirk he asked, "She does? I think we should buy a few... what else does she like?"

It went longer than expected. Asahi wanted every single junk food in sight saying his mom loved that particular kind of junk food. After the third time Asahi tried to pull that trick, Inuyasha just shrugged.

"We'll buy it for her next time, when she comes with us..."

The boy pouted but nodded.

After that, choosing the food to buy wasn't that difficult. He just bought a couple of everything that looked healthy and some chicken.

They came home and Inuyasha realized that he really didn't know how to cook. His best dish was egg and cheese instant ramen.

With the help of the internet, and the constant suggestions of his son, who decided he was going to cook for his mom too, Inuyasha finally decided on a recipe.

Asahi was in charge of the vegetables, which meant the boy had to wash them and cut them to boil them. Inuyasha repeated a couple of times that he had to be careful with the knife, even if the one he had was the smallest Kagome had in her kitchen.

With the rest of the food displayed in front of him, Inuyasha tried to decide what could be cooked. A warm memory came to him, from the time before she had gone away, before his parents died.

It had been an autumn day and he hadn't been careful enough as he tried to jump over a recycling lot and he had landed in a bad way on metal tubes and it had caused a couple of them to go through him. That meant that until his mom didn't see any kind of scarred or even pinkish flesh left on his body, Inuyasha was not allowed to be outside of his room, and obviously the sixteen-year-old boy hated it.

Begging, pleading and even whining was out of the question. There was no power on this earth that could change his mother's mind when it came to his health. Just as it was nothing that could change his sour mood until he was able to go outside. Well... there was just one person.

She arrived that day after school, knocking on his door softly. Her head peeked from the door with a smile before showing a big lunch bag.

"Brought you something."

He had responded with something stupid about not wanting it but she walked inside anyway, completely ignoring his words.

"I always wanted to bring you something like a 'get well' pack, but you never get sick. So when your mom told me she had you on house arrest because you were hurt, I knew this was my opportunity," she had explained as a blush appeared on her cheeks while she placed the food on his desk.

He had been looking at her from behind as she arranged everything in a beautiful manner. Trying to keep in mind that friends took care of each other and it didn't have anything to do with him feeling a little more than friendship for her.

When he sat on his desk with the food in front of him, she started explaining what she had brought: chicken broth porridge, miso soup, onigiris, tempura vegetables, egg rolls, udon, stir fried beef, white rice and, of course, a ramen cup.

Inuyasha was in awe. This was so much more than he had ever hoped for. She took a seat beside him and watched him eat. As everything she or her mom cooked, it was delicious. The thing he remembered the most was the warm smile on Kagome's face as she waited for him to be done, speaking from time to time to tell him what had happened at school. At the end he had told her to eat something, and she had chosen an onigiri. It really had been the best "get well" present he had ever received.

The voice of his son brought him back. "Dad, I finished with the veggies. You haven't done anything yet?"

Inuyasha looked at his son's work. He was right, every single vegetable they had bought was now irregularly cut in pieces, ready to be boiled. Because Asahi knew how to boil vegetables.

"Sorry, pup. I'll start working now."

"If you don't hurry I'll have to give my food to mom, and tell her you didn't make anything for her."

Inuyasha scoffed at the boy and ruffled his hair. "That won't happen. I'll make some fried rice for us and a soup for mom, alright?"

The boy nodded, "I really like rice omelette."

"I didn't say I was going to make rice omelette, only fried rice and soup."

Asahi gave him a look. "You don't know how to make them, dad?"

Inuyasha scoffed again. "I'll make you rice omelette and you'll know how good they are."

The boy smiled and went to cook his part.

By the time that the three rice omelettes and the chicken broth porridge was finished, Inuyasha remembered why he prefered ramen. It was faster, cleaner and so much easier.

The father-son pair decided to eat together with Kagome, so they took the three trays they had, Inuyasha carrying two with the dishes and the pitcher of water and Asahi carrying the extra tray and the cups.

Asahi opened the door quietly. Inside Kagome was sleeping on her back, with one arm around her torso and the other thrown up, curling around her head, slightly resting her cheek on it.

It was the first time he entered Kagome's bedroom and the first thing he noticed was that he loved the way it smelled. It was her scent mixed with Asahi's. It gave him a small satisfaction knowing there were no other scent there. Trying to take his mind away from those kind of thoughts, he looked around.

She had a desk on the wall farthest to the door, where he left the food. A small chest close to it caught his attention. It was something he remembered well. Inuyasha started to walk towards the small chest when his son's voice distracted him.

"Mom," the boy said in a whisper, close to Kagome's face.

She made a soft mewling noise before stirring softly. Inuyasha smiled at the adorable image before him. Asahi was sitting on the end of the bed leaning towards her. Kagome had turned towards the boy, her body curling around him, her half-asleep eyes focusing on him with a soft smile on her lips.

"Mom! We made you food!" he declared with a grin.

"You did?" she stopped for a moment. "You did?" she asked again with a different tone, one that was not very pleased and slightly frightened.

"He cooked the side dishes," Inuyasha commented, "and he gave me instructions on how you like your food."

Inuyasha was trying to tell her that the pup had not been alone in the kitchen without making it obvious. He knew the message was received when Kagome let out a small relieved sigh and smiled.

"Yes. I helped dad and we made food!"

Kagome ruffled his hair and sat on the bed. "Thank you! Actually I'm very hungry right now."

Inuyasha stared at her intently, searching for signs that told him she felt better. Her head turned to him as if she was feeling his eyes on her.

"How you feel?" his voice was harsher than he expected. Feeling a little embarrassed he cleared his throat. "Better?"

Kagome nodded slowly. "A little better, thank you. The nausea is gone." She smiled at him and gave them a thumbs up.

Asahi beamed, "Good! Because we have tons of food!"

He started to point at the tray that he had put on the floor before coming to her bed, and to the one on the desk. "We have everything ready!"

Inuyasha went back to the desk and brought the food to the bed at the same time Asahi poured water in the cups and left them on the night stand. Asahi jumped to bed, moving to the side to leave a space beside him, where the boy patted.

"Sit," the boy ordered with a smile.

Before following, Inuyasha looked at Kagome for some kind of permission. After all, it was her bed and even if they were only going to eat there it still felt like he was intruding into her private place. His cheeks started to feel hot and he just knew his ears were twitching, the bastards.

The woman in front of him just smiled, with a bit of blush in her cheeks too. "Sit down, Inuyasha. The food is gonna go cold."

He sat down quietly, right where Asahi had indicated. In his chest his heart started to dance when Kagome asked what was hers and Asahi told her what was specially for her and told her to eat all the side dishes.

Inuyasha took his own plate, with his ears still trained on Kagome, waiting for her to start eating. When she did and gave an approving sound, he finally breathed normally.

The meal was fun, with Asahi talking about their trip to the grocery store and all the things he did in the kitchen. As the hanyou ate in silence, he took his time watching them.

Asahi with his big smiles, twitchy black ears and his voice that kept getting louder every time he got excited and Kagome, trying to cover her winces when the pup shouted, reminding him to eat and not only talk and putting more vegetables in the boy's plate.

It was truly a beautiful sight. Inuyasha once again stared at the girl that he had never thought to see again; once again that overwhelming emotion came over him. There he was, the hanyou whose only brother despised him, the one who thought that he was alone, was now sitting in front of his son and the woman that had given him that gift.

Kagome's eyes found his and she gave him a questioning look. At the same time Asahi tugged at his shirt.

"Dad, can I eat my snack now? I ate all my food!"

Inuyasha nodded after checking the boy's food was indeed gone. "Alright. But only one bag."

The boy smiled in a way that for some reason seemed evil and darted downstairs.

"Hey! One of the SMALL bags!" he said knowing the boy could hear him.

When he heard a grumpy "why?" and some bags rustling he turned to Kagome again.

She smiled softly. "I also get those moments when I look at him," she whispered playing with a piece of vegetable in her plate.

"What?" he whispered before being able to stop himself.

She gave him a quick side glance and went back to her food. "You got that look on your face that was something between surprise and fear... and that is exactly how I feel sometimes... when I see Asahi. When I think about how having him with me saved me from so many things... the happiness that it brings me but also the fear of losing that happiness." She blinked a couple of times and made a face. "Maybe I'm overthinking that face... Sorry."

The quietness in the room, and the soft way that she had explained was surprisingly close to what he was feeling. The only difference was that her fear was something hypothetical, but in his case he would be away from them in a couple of days.

Inuyasha shook his head. "You-You're not wrong," he commented in the same soft, private tone. "But what did you mean by-"

His question was interrupted by Asahi who came running back to them with three chip bags. "I brought one for mom and one for dad!" he announced as he placed the three bags on the bed, rapidly picking one. "This is mine!"

The hanyou looked at both trying to choose from them at the same time Kagome shook her head. "I have no space left for snacks. You made me a lot of food and now I'm full!"

Asahi nodded proudly with his mouth full of chips. Inuyasha started to put everything back on the trays.

"Alright, you're well fed. Now you can go back to sleep," he said without looking at her.

He could hear her annoyed huff. "I feel better, I can go with you."

Ignoring the woman, Inuyasha turned to Asahi, who was already done with his snack and was eyeing the other two bags. "Pup, take this to the kitchen. We need to clean here so mom can go back to sleep."

The boy nodded and soon he was walking to the kitchen carefully, with his eyes glued to his cargo.

"Inuyasha... I'm fine! You don't need to do this."

He finished taking everything off the bed and held the remaining tray on his hip.

"Keh! You're a lousy liar Kagome".

"I'm serious. I'm fine."

"I don't think that you are fine if the pup's voice makes you uncomfortable."

Her cheeks tinted red and her eyes drifted to her hands. "It's not that bad," she mumbled.

Inuyasha scoffed and walked closer. Her head tilted back not losing the sight of his face. To make her understand- not because her eyes on him was doing something weird to his stomach, like butterflies or some shit- Inuyasha put his hand on her face and pushed her back to the bed.

"Just rest. I'll take care of the pup," he said with voice that sounded strangely deep in his ears, without taking his hand off her forehead.

He had pushed her back until her head was on her pillow. She covered his hand with hers and the contact brought more of those things that weren't butterflies to his belly. Her fingers were barely touching but he felt her warmth.

"Are you sure?"

"Keh! Go to sleep and don't worry about it, woman!"

She gave him a soft smile and squeezed his hand before letting it go. Inuyasha walked to the door, his hand tingling.

"Inuyasha..." she called when he was already at the door.

For a second his head drowned in all the different possibilities of the reason why she was calling. Maybe she was going to tell him to go home. Maybe she wanted to tell him to wake her up later. Maybe she was going to tell him he couldn't go back to her room anymore. His cheeks became red as he thought of other options. What if she wanted to give him a goodnight kiss? Or to tell him he could use her bed that night. As the ideas became increasingly unreal he shook his head trying to focus on the girl that stared at him from the bed.

"Uh? Yeah?"

"Just don't let him make a mess, alright?"

Without his knowledge his ears flattened on his head. "Don't worry, Kagome. Goodnight," he said.

Kagome frowned at him for a moment."G-good night...?" she answered.

Inuyasha closed the door and walked down to the kitchen, placed the tray on the counter and searched for his son in the living room, where the boy was already searching for a movie to watch.

As he sat down on the couch, Inuyasha felt his cheeks redden once again as he stared at the clock. He had told Kagome goodnight and it wasn't five in the afternoon yet.

When the boy was ready, he came back to the couched and settled in the same position he had done the last time.

The hanyou was not paying attention to the movie. Just enjoying the feeling of holding his pup. Trying to breath in his scent. Loving how trusting the boy was. At the same time his head was distracted by all the things he wanted to do and imagining how things could be different if he wasn't just a guest in this home. Something that became painfully obvious when Asahi asked with a quiet voice.

"Dad...?"

"Mhm?"

"Are you gonna be here tomorrow?"

Inuyasha nuzzled the boy's head tenderly. "Yes, I'll be here, why?"

Without answering his question, Asahi said, "Even at night?"

Inuyasha's brows went low with worry, "Maybe not all night, why?"

"Why not?" the boy turned his face to his father waiting for an answer.

"Um... because I need to discuss it with your mom... this is her house, pup."

The look on Asahi's face changed from worried to determined before turning back to the T.V. "I'll talk with my mom, then." The hand that the boy had around his neck softly stroked the back of Inuyasha's head. "Don't worry."

Inuyasha blinked confused a couple of times, not very sure of what had just happened, feeling slightly worried about what exactly Asahi was going to talk about with Kagome.

'I just hope she doesn't throw me out' he thought. Hoping that whatever Asahi was thinking about wasn't as ominous as it felt.

To be continued...

A/N:

Finally an update! Yaay!

It has been a really long time since the last update, almost a year and I'm so sorry about it. I got engrossed in another stories and lost track of time. I will try to write updates more regularly.

Thank you for reading and supporting this story and I really hope this chapter was worth the wait and it was what you were waiting for u.u

As always, thank you for taking the time to read, review and like this story.

I promise to make an effort to update soon!

Love,

Nanna

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