A/N: Okay, ladies and gents, this is the un-fun part of being a fanfiction author. I hate writing notes like this, but it seems that I have to. So, those of you who are not guilty, just hang in there for a few moments. I'll be done with this shortly. As for those of you who enjoy writing reviews that say "update now," "I've been waiting forever, so update," or my favorite: "why haven't you updated You're not Alone?" listen here, and listen carefully. I have tried explaining through author's notes during my updates what is going on in my life, and most people empathetically understand.
For those of you who do not, let me explain. Fanfiction is not my job occupation. I have a life outside of Inuyasha. I have a family to care for, friends that need my support, and I have a job. Fanfiction comes far after those on the list. I am writing now to say that the rude "reviews" are going to stop, or the end result is simple. I will, take heed, start blocking certain reviewers and stop accepting anonymous reviews if I have to. I do not want to as many anonymous reviewers are kind, but this is ridiculous, people. And as for You're not Alone, I have many stories to finish. Whichever one I update is up to me. Yes, I would love to put out more chapters on all of them, but so I don't put out something poorly written, I need to update the stories that have had time to be thought of. Sometimes the only thing that keeps me writing is a moment of inspiration, and quite frankly I cannot choose which story I am going to be inspired to write about. Yes, feel free to tell me that you are looking forward to other stories being updated, but do not waste my time in reviews for one story asking rudely why another hasn't been updated instead of the one I chose to update.
And let me remind you what a review is. A review is constructive criticism on how to improve one's stories, or they are sharing what one liked or disliked about it. If you are concerned about updates and want to ask me about them, my email is E-mail me about those things, don't waste time in reviews. This goes without saying for any author.
Yes, this is blunt, but it could be more so. If you think I've overreacted, sorry. E-mail me, don't take it up in a review. Flame me, yell at me, fine. Frankly, to be blunt, most of you I do not know personally, so your ranting is nothing more than annoying. I've said what needs to be said.
As for the rest of my readers, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your patience, understanding, and encouragement. I cannot begin to tell you how much it is appreciated.
This chapter is dedicated to two people: Dennisud and Hououza. Since my introduction to the fanfiction world, I have always been able to depend on these two especially for constructive criticism and encouragement. More often than not, my first review comes from Dennisud and then the next one after that is from Hououza. Thank you, you guys, I've always enjoyed hearing from you.
Now then, on with the story...
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Mates
By: Of Memories Past
Chapter 8: Thank God for Bubbles
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Half an hour and too many ear tweaks later, Inuyasha found himself sinking to the floor in Kagome's bedroom. He breathed out slowly and then inhaled deeply, taking in the forgotten, familiar scents of his wife's previous dwelling. The soft smell of roses lingered on her things and reminded him of the many times that he had found solace in her room. Peace never came to him in the past as it had here in her room. Five-hundred years ahead of his time he could find the serenity he needed.
Inuyasha snickered. The things that he had to do to come up with an excuse to stay there. After a while he simply gave up trying and stuck with the age old tale that he had to make sure that she came back in time. How often had Miroku teased him about how far he would go for a nap?
"Pregnant!"
Inuyasha jolted upright from where he had been slouching on the floor at the sound of Mrs. Higurashi's squeal.
"That's the eightieth time," Inuyasha grumbled, trudging over to the bedroom door and closing it. His hands reached up to massage his aching ears. To say that Kagome's mother was excited would be a serious understatement. And to Inuyasha's chagrin, her enthusiasm was contagious. It wasn't two minutes after Mrs. Higurashi spotted Kagome's stomach that Kagome had joined in the celebration, bouncing up and down in the only way that she could while clapping her hands and pulling his ears along with her mother.
It was abuse.
He had been pulled on, hugged, whacked upside the head by Kagome's grandfather for getting his "precious baby" pregnant, kissed, tackled by Souta, hugged and kissed some more, and so on.
A slow grin spread over his lips. Okay, maybe it was not that bad. And now he even had a few moments of peace and semi-quiet while Kagome and her mother looked at Kagome and Souta's old.
"Inuyasha, look at these!"
Peace and quiet gone.
He started when Kagome burst in the room, followed closely by her mother, and tucked herself under his arms. Before he had time to recover, she shoved several small baby outfits under his nose, and he had to look down cross-eyed in order to see them. Then all of a sudden Mrs. Higurashi was next to him, showing him baby pictures galore. Those were a bit more interesting. He liked the ones of Kagome, and had to admit that she was quite adorable. Absently, he himself began seeping into the baby hype, picturing what a mini version of kagome would look like in the tiny clothes currently under his nose.
"Mama," Kagome yawned, "time to relax." She dropped the baby clothes on her bed and stretched out her limbs, her stomach protruding more as she flexed.
Inuyasha smiled at her image, but he also silently began thanking God for the reprieve.
Mrs. Higurashi smiled. "Hungry?"
"Yes, and I'm sure Inuyasha could go for a snack too."
She knew him too well.
"Ramen," Mrs. Higurashi asked, laughing quietly.
Inuyasha nodded.
"Actually, that sounds good," Kagome said. "I think I'll take a bath and then come down."
"Take your time. I'll come and get you when it's almost ready." Mrs. Higurashi kissed Kagome and then hugged Inuyasha.
"I really do hope the baby has your ears," she said, smiling when his arms circled her tightly. She pulled back and tugged his ears. "Such a sweet boy. I'll come up in about an hour."
She left and closed the door behind her.
"That wasn't so bad," Kagome said to him when her mother left.
"Keh."
"Don't start," she warned, turning to her bathroom. "This is going to be a nice, relaxing—"
"Relaxing?"
Kagome glared. "Relaxing and fun visit. So your ears suffer a little. Do you know what it's like to have three people patting your stomach all at once?"
Inuyasha involuntarily shuddered.
"Oh, stop it, you big baby. Just enjoy the break." She disappeared into her bathroom then.
Inuyasha heard the squeaking of the faucet as the hot water was turned on and then the sound of Kagome rummaging through drawers. Curiosity drove him toward the bathroom where his wife was making a ruckus.
"What are you looking for?" he asked, leaning against the door frame.
"Bubbles," she mumbled, piling random bathroom things onto the sink counter, "and matches. Ah! Here they are!"
A pink container appeared on the counter followed by a small paper book of matches. Kagome unscrewed the bubble cap and poured a generous amount into the filling tub, splashing the water around a bit to get the bubbles growing more rapidly, and then struck a match and began lighting the candles in her bathroom.
Inuyasha sneezed when she struck the match, sulfur invading his nose mercilessly. But soon the sweet scent of vanilla filtered though the bathroom, soothing the sting that the sulfur inflicted. He found himself breathing easier.
"Could you turn off the lights, please?"
"What?"
"The lights." Kagome pointed at the switch on the wall as she began tying her hair back on top of her head. "It will be more relaxing with just the candles."
Inuyasha did as she asked and flipped the switch. Soft candlelight spread gently across the room, casting shadows on the lightly painted walls. He watched as Kagome took two fluffy towels from the cabinet and hung them over the drying bar before beginning to take off the loose sweats she wore.
He smiled as she began to undress and leaned back against the counter to watch her. She had always been beautiful to him, even if it had taken too long to him to admit it to her. But pregnant with his pup...she was simply drop-dead gorgeous.
Kagome suddenly stopped undressing when she was in just her sweat pants and sports bra and reached over to turn off the water. "Inuyasha, you can continue to just stand there and stare, or you can get in with me."
That was a wake up call. Inuyasha stood up straight and rigid and craned his neck to look around the door to see if anyone had snuck into the room and heard her. They had never bathed together. The basin that they had in their home was too small, and bathing together was just so...intimate. They had only recently gotten over other differences. Sharing a tub was just too...
He looked at Kagome again. His expression softened. She was his mate, his wife. She was his, and he was hers. She was pregnant with his baby. She loved him.
Inuyasha shook his head and sniffed the air. Other than his and her scents, the others were too faded to have been there any time recently. Satisfied that no one was there, he turned his attention back to Kagome. She was blushing slightly.
"You...you don't have to," she stammered. "It was just an idea." She looked away then.
"Is there enough room?"
Kagome's head snapped around, her eyes wide. His gaze was averted to the far wall and a lone fang chewed his bottom lip, but he was not objected to the idea. Golden eyes suddenly slid to hers, and he smirked. A blush stole into her cheeks. She did not really think that he would consider it, but from the look that he just gave her he seemed to be quite fond of the idea.
"There's plenty of room, if I can lean against you." She blushed again and refused to look at him.
The sound of clothing hitting the carpet on the floor reached her ears. Bright red took over her natural skin tone and spread down her neck and chest. Clawed hands came to rest on her bare shoulders from behind and began kneading the muscles there. It was relaxing and tensing at the same time.
"What's wrong?" he asked quietly.
"N-no-nothing."
"Is this a bad idea?"
"No!" she said abruptly, tilting her head back to look at his face. "No, it's not a bad idea."
Inuyasha bent down and kissed her forehead, tugging lightly on one of her bra straps before letting his hands drop from her shoulders. Kagome took the hint and finished undressing as she heard him slide into the tub. She snatched an extra hair toggle and secured it around her wrist before joining him in the tub.
The atmosphere was soothing and the bubbles smelled sweet as she eased into the comfortably hot water. Once immersed, she situated herself so that her back rested against Inuyasha's chest, his legs splayed on either side of her and his hands resting gently on her stomach. Kagome smiled and played with the high-rising bubbles for a moment before reaching her arms back behind Inuyasha's head and tying his hair back with the toggle.
"Won't get all wet now," she said, smiling. He kissed her hair, and she let her head fall back to rest on his shoulder. This was nice. "We need a bigger tub."
"Mmmm."
Kagome laughed lightly at his drowsy voice. "Don't you fall asleep on me."
"I'm not falling asleep," he grumbled. But the coarse quality to his voice betrayed his answer.
"You better not. You'll miss out on ramen."
Inuyasha chuckled.
They soaked in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other's presence. Despite tying her hair back to keep from getting wet, Inuyasha loosened her toggle in order to run his claws through the fine strands, and Kagome contented herself with being pampered and building a mountain of bubbles. It was calming for both of them.
"Why did you agree to be my mate?"
"Where did that come from?" Kagome started, splashing a bit of water over the tub's edge as she hastily turned to face Inuyasha.
But he remained calm and continued running his claws through her hair, his eyes showing contentment even those hers were wide with uncertainty. She stilled his hand and tied her hair back once again as she looked up at his thoughtful face.
"Why did you ask me that?"
"It's something I've always wondered," he confessed, resting his hand behind her neck. "Your human, and yet you willingly responded to a youkai code of honor. You could have refused stubbornly like we all thought you would when I claimed you and gone on living as usual, but you chose the harder path with me. Why?"
"I know I didn't have to get married so young, Inuyasha," she mumbled. She sank into the water until half her face was covered, bubbles rising to the surface as she continued talking.
"Can't understand you, koi," Inuyasha responded, hooking his hands under her arms to lift her higher.
"I said that I wanted to!" Kagome snapped her mouth shut after her confession and looked down into the bubbles. "It was the selfish part of me. I loved you. You knew that, I knew that, but I also didn't think that I would ever be loved in return. And Kikyou's still here. I thought that this was the only way you would take me over her." She felt ashamed at that last confession, but it was only fair to him to admit it.
"That's—" he began roughly.
"I know that now!" she interrupted hastily. "But at the time I didn't think...didn't believe...oh, you know." She crossed her arms. "Part of it was selfish of me, but I also wanted to love you. Wanted you to know that you were loved and that it was okay to love. I wanted to always be with you, and this seemed to be the only way..." she trailed off.
"And you had marked me," she continued. "I know enough about youkai to know that they mate for life. If I had rejected you, then you would never have anyone."
"So you did it out of pity?"
Kagome heard the angry undertone in his voice and winced. "That didn't come out right." She took a deep breath. "I wanted you, and I loved you. I felt selfish because I took you without ever knowing if it was what you truly wanted. But I've never regretted my actions either." She swallowed. "Even during our rough times."
He fell silent then, contemplating all that she had told him. Some of her previous doubt irritated him, but at the same time he knew that he was also at fault for not letting her know just how much he cherished her.
Inuyasha tightened his arm around her and whispered into her hair. "I love Kagome, Kagome,"
Kagome smiled and leaned back against him. "I know."
"Thanks for telling me."
Her head fell back against his shoulder again, and she looked up at him smiling. "Love you."
Bending his neck, Inuyasha leaned down and gently brushed his lips over hers.
"Kagome, your food's going to be—" Mrs. Higurashi stopped mid-sentence and stared.
Now, this situation was new for her too. All her daughter's life, she had been able to walk into the bathroom where Kagome soaked to tell her whatever. As a matter of fact, some of their best mother/daughter conversations occurred while Kagome was relaxing in the bathtub after a stressful time in the feudal era. It was second nature to her as a mother.
It had never occurred to Mrs. Higurashi that she might find Kagome in the tub with Inuyasha, kissing nonetheless. But as fate would have it, this embarrassing situation had happened. She raised a hand to her mouth, both out of shock and to keep from laughing.
The looks on their faces!
Mrs. Higurashi knew that Kagome would not be thinking of the fact that she and Inuyasha were married and that this situation was in fact okay. As a matter of fact, all Kagome's red face screamed was "Mama caught me in tub making out with a boy!"It seemed that even Kagome had forgotten that Inuyasha was her husband.
Inuyasha, on the other hand, looked guilty as sin. She supposed it did not help that Grandpa had hit him over the head earlier for getting her pregnant.
"Well," Mrs. Higurashi said a little too cheerfully, "you two look nice and cozy in there! Why don't we just wait a little while longer before supper? Have fun, you two!" And she left.
Once outside of Kagome's room, Mrs. Higurashi leaned back against the wall and covered her mouth his her hand. She laughed. She laughed at her own stupidity for not thinking that perhaps Inuyasha would be with her daughter, she laughed at the awkwardness, and she laughed at the dumb, reaching way she had spoken to them, too embarrassed at having walked in on them to form and intelligent sentence. She laughed at the fact that her daughter was married and allowed to do such things and the fact that she herself was not use to it. Then she thought of their faces. Her hand left her mouth and moved to clutched her stomach with her other hand. Sinking to the floor she let loose and simply howled over the entire situation.
Meanwhile, in the bathroom...
"I want to die." Kagome buried her face in Inuyasha's chest and squeezed her eyes closed, willing the entire incident to disappear.
Inuyasha remained silent for a moment, his ears twitching.
"Your mother's laughing at us," he finally spoke, patting her head in a soothing manner.
Kagome opened her eyes and looked up at him, giving him a sarcastic grin. "Oh, that's just great."
Inuyasha just chuckled and tapped the end of her nose. "Well, thank God for bubbles."
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A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed. Quite an embarrASSing situation, no? Lol, sorry, couldn't help myself. Wonder how their going to feel around Mama now? Should be interesting. Next chapter, more of the visit back home. A little more lightheartedness and fluff before we get into the thicker part of the story. Hope that you all enjoyed. I'd love feedback.
I've opened a livejournal account now. You'll find me under the username Silsbee. Sometimes you'll find update news in it and hear about how crazy life is. Check it out if interested. You can find the link under my profile on It's my homepage. God Bless! Of Memories Past