AN: written for the "really" prompt for the Summer Mini Challenge 2018. One-shot. Post-Canon.

Noisy Neighbors

A certain hanyou's ear cocked when he'd heard his wife's voice below his favorite tree. He'd been napping that afternoon, worn out from a demon exorcising outing with Miroku in another village. He'd relaxed on a branch on the tree, just above a river where some of the women did their washing.

Kagome, Sango and Rin had brought clothes down and were washing them while they occupied themselves with some idle chatter.

"You know that Kia right? Single woman in the village that works in the field. She's a little older than us. I really don't think she likes me," Kagome said, and Inuyasha listened with mild interest.

"Oh? Why is that? I've never heard her say anything bad about you," Sango said.

"Of course you wouldn't," Kagome huffed. "You're too distracted, and no one would ever say anything unkind about anyone the town demonslayer knew."

"How could anyone not like the village miko?" Rin asked.

"Easy," Sango answered for Kagome. "It's gotta be the company you keep."

"Inuyasha? No, I mean, she has said things…" Kagome said, and the silence of the other girls prodded her to continue. "Like, wow you're really young to be married. And to a hanyou even! You don't know where he's been…. He could turn on you and kill you at any moment."

Sango huffed. "Sounds like she's jealous. I heard Kia is still looking for a husband."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes as the girls laughed. "Keh," he said, loud enough for them to hear.

"Well, maybe she's just - bored?"

"Maybe you are," Inuyasha chimed in, cracking open an eye and looking into his wife's challenging stare.

He never really enjoyed getting involved in women's gossip, but he couldn't resist. Plus, he didn't really like the idea of some villager saying stuff to Kagome, especially about them. He was used to the hesitation and mild tolerance from some of the villagers, but if any of them tried to make them unhappy… he felt he ought to defend his family.

"Oh, Inuyasha," Kagome said with a sharp stare and a wicked smile. "I could never be bored with you."

He blushed and narrowed his eyes at her, but like hell if he was going to look away.

Kagome and Inuyasha were locked an intense stare, and Sango had to cough awkwardly to break it up. She sighed audibly. "You two. You don't get it at all."

Inuyasha looked over at Sango, who was still washing her clothes with some disinterest in their heated stare. Of course, she was more than used to their bickering, so this was nothing new. They still even fought sometimes, about trivial things, but he was thankful at least Kagome no longer had the rosary to use against him.

It didn't mean he could get away with things. Dealing with an angry wife under the same roof was bad enough.

"What… don't we get?" Kagome braved the question. Sango just sighed, and Inuyasha cocked his ears in interest.

"Kia isn't jealous or bored, well, I don't think it's just that anyway," Sango said. "Obviously, I think she's trying to tell you something," Sango said, glancing at Kagome. "She's just too proper to spell it out for you."

Kagome looked confused, and Inuyasha was lost on where this was going. Though, knowing what an astute observer Sango was (just as much as her husband) her thoughts couldn't be good.

Suddenly, Kagome gasped. "Sango, you did hear something!" Kagome affirmed, and Sango's usual serious expression face broke into an embarrassed blush.

"Well, maybe I've got an idea…" she admitted.

"What is it?" Kagome said, her voice rising to a panic. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at Sango now.

"It has to do with your...loud living habits," Sango said reluctantly.

"Loud...living habits?" Kagome repeated, her eyes wide with wonder at what Sango could possibly mean. The demon slayer bit her lip.

"You guys do argue. Everyone knows that," Sango said, but Inuyasha knew that wasn't it. "And your other activities…"

Kagome yelped, throwing a hand over her mouth. Her entire face turned the color of cherries, and Inuyasha began to suspect the meaning of Sango's concern.

"Just spill it," Inuyasha complained.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome began, speaking before Sango. "It seems the whole village can hear us at night when we…"

Sango looked at Kagome with sympathy. The poor girl couldn't handle being the subject of such gossip.

"But...we're married," Kagome said.

"And you're also loud," Sango said. "To put it plainly, I've heard some complaints that it sounds like a demon is howling at night."

Inuyasha felt the heat creep to the ends of his ears. Oh. Sango meant that kind of loud.

"Technically, a demon is howling," Rin chimed in, making much better progress with washing her laundry than everyone else.

"Rin! How can you say such a thing!" Kagome said, as if to scold her.

Sesshoumaru's ward shrugged nonchalantly. "You're the one making all the noise at night, waking up poor delicate children like me."

Kagome squeaked, hiding her face in her hands. "Wow, this is so embarrassing. How am I ever going to face the village again now that I know what...they hear at night?"

"You could start by keeping it down at night," Sango suggested.

"Keh," Inuyasha said, totally against the idea. "It's none of their business. We'll do what we want."

Sango's brow rose from his input. She shrugged. "Well, if you don't mind being the town gossip…"

"No!" Kagome said. "We'll...figure something out." She looked up at Inuyasha sheepishly. "Right?"

Inuyasha honestly didn't care what the villagers thought. He loved Kagome, and some nights he showed her just how much he loved her. He didn't give a damn if anyone heard the sounds from their lovemaking.

"You know, you could always build another dwelling deeper in the forest. No one would bother you or probably hear you, and you could make as much noise as you want," Rin said.

"That's even more embarrassing," Kagome said. "They'd know exactly why we moved."

"I don't know if we can help you with a solution to your problem," Sango said with a sigh. "I'd ask Miroku, but he'd get too much enjoyment out of 'helping' Inuyasha with that sort of problem. You're lucky he hasn't heard the gossip yet."

"Yet…" Inuyasha muttered. "Damn it, if he finds out…" Inuyasha played a few scenarios in his brain if the monk found out about the villagers' grievances with their nightly ventures. He'd never hear the end of it, and he'd be way more tempted to pound the bozu than ever before.

And he was just getting that reflex under control…

"Look, maybe the problem isn't so difficult after all," Sango mused aloud. "Maybe…" Her words trailed off and she shook her head. "Oh, nevermind."

"What?" Kagome asked, desperate for a fix to her problem.

"You could somehow...drop some gossip of your own around the village…" Sango said.

"Such as…?" Kagome asked.

"You could say that because Inuyasha is a hanyou, you only have one solution to keep the demon at bay. As a miko, it's your duty to protect the village by making such noises with him every night. If you didn't satisfy the demon, then he would just go berserk and put everyone in danger. The villagers are simple so they don't know much about hanyou, so they may believe it - even tolerate the noises at night."

Sango looked up at Kagome, who appeared to be white as a sheet. Inuyasha was already growling in protest.

"What the hell? What kind of story is that! There is no controlling my demon side like that! Who the hell would believe that?" he complained.

Sango gave him a deadpanned look. Apparently having four kids and counting had motivated her to grow out of her prudish phase, for the most part. She had no problem challenging Inuyasha on this subject. "Hey, you're the noisy, insatiable idiot at night. I was just giving you somewhat of a feasible excuse. Do what you want," Sango said, waving a hand.

"It's actually a pretty good story," Rin commented. "I should tell Sesshoumaru-sama when he gets back," she added.

It was Inuyasha's turn to turn white as a ghost.

"No, no...we won't do that," he said. "We won't tell that asshole anything!"

"Then what are we going to do?" Kagome asked, ready to give up.

Inuyasha crossed his arms and thought for a moment. "It's simple, Kagome. We'll talk about it later."

"Hey, but I want to know what you're plan is!" Rin said.

"To be honest, I want to know too," Sango said.

"Well tough! I ain't telling you anything!" Inuyasha snapped at them. He pointed a clawed finger at Rin. "Especially you."

Fury consumed him, and Inuyasha had bounded off from the tree away from the three women. Kagome looked on helplessly as he disappeared into the forest. She turned to Sango and Rin, who just looked over at her sympathetically. Kagome bit her lip, still nervous at what they were going to do.

Later, Kagome found her husband tinkering around their homestead. She could hear bustling sounds from the outside, so she entered cautiously and noticed that Inuyasha was fortifying the walls with moss. When the smell hit her nose, she gagged.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing to our home?" she asked, shocked and horrified. "And what is that smell."

"I know, the smell sucks but after a few weeks it should be gone," he explained. "This is moss that grows in the swamp area and is used by the dragon youkai to muffle the sounds so they can stalk their prey. If they can be quiet on the hunt, we can be quiet to everyone else in the village."

Kagome's eyes were already watering, and her once lovely home was being covered by an ugly, smelly moss. "Inuyasha… there is no way I'm living in this stuff."

"Just give it a chance; you'll be used to it in no time," he said, and he turned to her and saw her crying. He frowned. Though he didn't seem to know she'd been crying from the overpowering stench.

"No, Inuyasha, I'm not living in this mess. If you don't take down this moss, I'm going to stay with Sango-chan," she said defiantly.

"But Kagome!" he said.

She shook her head. "We'll find something else."

He made an exasperated sound, kicked a pile of moss and swore at it. Kagome left the house, retreating to the forest for some fresh air. She damn well hoped that once she returned, her house was back to normal.

When Kaede-dono found Kagome, she was staring idly at a stream in the forest. She was quiet, her mind abuzz with thoughts and her emotions still brimming with mortification. She couldn't believe that the whole village saw them as some sort of deviant animals that couldn't have enough of each other. She didn't recall crying that loudly, but then again, she couldn't say she recalled anything in those moments.

Inuyasha was not always a tender lover. Sometimes during the New Moon he was, but as a hanyou, his desires were insatiable. It didn't help that he was loud at everything else too, such as complaining, eating, and fighting.

Finally, Kaede's voice broke through her silence. "What troubles you, child?"

Kagome scoffed. "What doesn't? The whole village thinks were depraved beasts. I just don't know what to do about it. Inuyasha refuses to be mindful of it. And now our house smells like a soundproof demon moss." She sighed. The situation seemed hopeless.

"Ah, yes, I've heard some mutterings about it," she said. "But why do you place so much importance on it. Miroku-dono and Sango-san also are not as quiet. And I've heard Keiko and Shiya scream through the night before as well. It is a part of living in a small community. Also some people are light sleepers."

"Really?" Kagome turned to her, somewhat relieved. "I thought it was just us."

"Inuyasha could never be quiet. It is not within his nature," she said. "Might I make a suggestion?"

Kagome nodded furiously. She watched as Kaede turn to her satchel on her waist. She pulled out a pocket of herbs and handed it to Kagome. "This is a small mixture of lemon balm, anise, and other soothing plants. One of these plants grows in the mountains with the bat youkai. It helps them with their echolocation. Maybe if Inuyasha were to have some of this in tea before bed, he might understand what it is like in other people's footsteps."

Kagome took the satchel gently, and she thanked Kaede before the ancient miko wandered back off to her homestead.

That evening Kagome did as Kaede asked. The smell of anise and cinnamon seemed to soothe her senses and mask the dwindling smell of the moss. Inuyasha had been burning sage that afternoon to at least relieve the smell before she returned, and Kagome was satisfied with his effort.

He watched her intently as she made the tea. "So the old woman said I should drink this tea and I should be able to quiet down?"

"Something like that," Kagome said, though she really did know what the results would be. Kaede didn't exactly specify, just that he would know what it felt like - whatever that meant.

Inuyasha gulped up the entire portion of tea, and the effects immediately calmed him. Kagome watched him with mild interest before they settled into bed, and when his hand started caressing her skin under her yukata, her interest piqued on how this tea was going to work. (Kagome was at least going to be mindful of her sounds.)

He shifted over her, moaning slightly as she melted against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his lips bent down, capturing hers. She sighed at the familiar taste, remembering all the reasons she loved him, letting each touch he offered settle into her skin. Gentle with his claws, he pushed open her yukata, exposing her skin to the night air.

Delicately, Kagome derobed him, untying his belt and removing his pants. His hot skin against hers electrofied her senses. His long hair fanned over her, touching her lightly with each of his movements. He pressed himself against her, the thick hardness rubbing against the apex of her thighs. She opened herself up for him, and he moaned a little louder.

Kagome's blood went still, remembering the louder they got, the more their neighbors would hear them. Inuyasha continued, having no such reservations of his own.

His kisses became longer, heavier with a sense of urgency. He trailed his lips and teeth softly down her jaw to her chest, settling on her pebbled nipples and then sucking like a babe. Kagome let out a silent whine, mindful of her voice. Inuyasha growled loudly against her skin, and then he murmured a light cry.

Wasting no more time, he dropped a hand between her legs, opened her wide, and lightly pressed a clawed finger inside her. She squeaked, and he removed it to replace it with his hardness, pumping slow and deep within her. Kagome's breath became erratic, and Inuyasha growled louder in her ear. She opened her eyes for a moment and glanced at his ears, flattened against his head.

He looked like he was in pain, but that he was trying to ignore it.

"Inuyasha?" she whispered.

"Shhh," he said, still pushing inside her in a solid rhythm. She moved with him, watching him with half-curiosity, and then reveling in the other feelings of him inside her, creating a crest of ecstasy with each movement.

His grunting was more controlled, but the moment he came, he let out a howl, only it was cut short, and his ears flattened against his skull. He lurched in pain, pulling out of her and then cringing at her side of their bedding.

"Ow, ow, dammit, son of a bitch, OW," he said, and he clutched his ears.

"What, what is it?" Kagome asked.

"Each time I even make a sound my ears start ringing. It hurts like hell, and then I can't hear a thing for like a moment," he said. "What the fuck did Kaede put in that tea?"

"Um, she didn't specify each ingredient, but one of them is used by bat youkai for heightened echolocation."

"Feh! That has to be it. She heightened my sense of hearing. Now I can hear myself louder than before! Almost twice as loud! And it hurts like hell!" he grumbled.

"So when she told me that you'd understand what others in the village are experiencing…"

"She meant that I would hear things loudly and painfully," he said. "But if I don't make a sound…"

"Then it's okay. Huh, well I didn't realize it would cause you pain," she said, putting a comforting arm on his shoulder.

"Forget it," Inuyasha said. "If this what keeps the villagers from shunning us, I can work on my noises with the tea."

Kagome wasn't sure, but she felt somewhat relieved. Inuyasha, however, still looked angry. When he met her eyes, his expression softened. He held out his arms.

"Come here," he said, and he drew her into his arms. Kagome relaxed against him.

"You think anyone heard you swearing like that?" Kagome asked with a giggle.

"Who cares," he said a little too loudly. "If they have a problem they can come to me directly," he yelled, and then he winced as he felt the feedback in his ear. "Damn, that Kaede."

"She was just trying to help," Kagome said.

"Well I don't need that old woman's help for my sex life," he said, and he turned to her and kissed her again. "Now, where were we?"

"Resting between rounds," Kagome said, kissing him on the chin. He gave her a fanged grin, the grin she fell in love with.

"Damn straight, woman," he said, and he pulled her against him again, loving her and treating her with care.

Albeit, he did more quietly this time around. The neighbors in the village never bothered them about it again.

END