Chapter 8 - I'll try

~*~

"I'm HOME!" Miroku cried cheerfully as the clock struck 8:30.

He proclaimed his arrival with so much enthusiasm, one might think he was about to announce his victory in some great battle.

In actuality, he had just returned from buying a Christmas tree. No where near as impressive, but a battle won in it's own sense.

However, Inu-Yasha was not at all impressed.

Nor cheerful, for that matter.

"Goody goody gumdrops," he drawled, drumming his fingers over the table as he stared into space, his mind still on his encounter with Naraku. "Would you like me to give you a sticker?"

"Humph," the perverted one grumbled. "You're such an ingrate! Where are the lovely ladies? I'm sure they'd appreciate my return."

"Mmm."

Miroku's pout deepened. "FINE. I'll just set the tree up in the living room."

"You do that," Inu-Yasha replied blankly, obviously not paying the least bit attention.

"And I'll jump out the window."

"You do that."

"And I'll tap dance naked on the roof singing 'I'm a Little Tea Pot' while hot gluing feathers to my body."

"You do that."

The black haired teen looked dryly at his friend before pulling up a chair and plopping next to him- leaving the tree in the foyer. "All right, what's wrong?"

"You do that."

If this had been an anime, the violet clad wolf would have sweatdropped.

"Hello in there?!" Miroku yelled, whapping his friend over the head. "I asked what's wrong?!"

Inu snarled half-heartedly, rubbing his noggin while glaring at the male next to him.

"Well?"

The human sighed and looked away again, allowing silence to blanket the pair as he tried to think of an answer.

Miroku waited patiently.

For a while, anyway.

"Look, are you going to tell me or not?" he finally asked in exasperation. "Because there are plenty of other things I could be doing right now, like tap dancing naked on the ro-"

"It's about Naraku," Inu-Yasha interrupted, clenching his fists.

The second teen shut up as his eyes widened.

"Naraku?"

"Yeah," the lavender eyed male grumbled, tugging on the forelocks of his hair in frustration. "While you and the girls were gone. . . he came looking for me- must have been me. Since it's that time of the month," he added dully, flicking a piece of his ebony hair, "he didn't recognize me. Thought I was a human, so he told me that he was basically hunting down the pack that a wolf he killed was from. Our pack."

"But the only wolf from out clan that was killed by a hunter was-"

"My father. Which was why he must be looking for me specifically," Inu sighed, laying his head in his arms, which were crossed on the table. 'Sessho-Maru's right out, since he came to MY door. . .'

"But how would he know so much about wolves? How would he know that we were the pack your father was from?"

The normally silver haired wolf glanced up from his arms, wheels beginning to turn in his mind. 'Wait. . .' "Kikyo. . ."

Miroku raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Kikyo. . . he must have tricked her into believing he was a werewolf and used her to spy on our clan. That dog knew me damn well! She could have told him anything about me! That's how he knew my fracking apartment number!"

Inu-Yasha's eyes widened as things began to click into place. "And that would be why he doesn't think Kagome is a wolf- Kikyo dumped him before Kagome and I even started going out! Stupid Kikyo dog believed anything and everything! She must have thought his jewelry false and all his falsehoods true!"

The perverted wolf sat silently, his brow wrinkled in thought as his friend ranted.

"Those two, no good, lying- hey, Miroku, what's wrong?"

The teen in questioned looked Inu up and down. "Well. . . your theory is a good one, and very, very probable. . ."

"But. . .?"

"But it's common knowledge that you're only half a werewolf. If Kikyo ratted to Naraku your apartment number for Christ's sakes, don't you think she'd have mentioned the half bred thing? No offence or anything, I'm just sayin' that while she was going out with him, she loved to diss you."

"So. . .?" the lavender eyed boy asked slowly.

"So then, why would he come on the night your wolf blood ebbs away? He's got more knowledge of the werewolves then I think even the werewolves may have. How could he screw that up? Unless. . . he thought being a half wolf meant something else. . . meant your body would react in a different way. . ."

"What other way would my body react?" Inu-Yasha questioned irritably. "It's not like their are many options-"

"Does every pup in a litter look and act the same?" Miroku asked harshly, his eyes cold. "Does every mortal with blonde hair have to have blue eyes and enjoy chicken?"

"What the hell are you trying to get at with these stupid analogies?!" Inu snapped.

"I'm just saying that Naraku may be working off of information of a different half wolf- he may know more then we think, even now!" 'He may be more then we think, even now. . .'

However, the two's discussion- or argument, whichever you wanted to call it- was interrupted by the muffled sound of the door opening.

"Um? Guys?" called Sango's voice. "Could someone move this tree out of the way? We want to get inside, damn it!"

*

After around ten minutes of shoving, pulling, and grunting, the four were able to dislodge the Christmas tree from it's cozy spot in the small foyer, where it had somehow gotten stuck between the door and the walls.

"Oof!" Kagome panted as Miroku finally dragged the pine into the living room and set it in a stand, cussing profusely as he did so. Tree's just never seem to want to stay correctly.

As the violet clad teen worked on the greenery, Sango and Kag worked on freeing themselves of purchases.

"By the goddess, did you leave anything for the other shoppers?" Inu-Yasha asked, an eyebrow arched in exasperation as he watched the girls dump bag after bag from their arms and onto the kitchen table. "Anyway, I thought we had nothing to spend!"

"We both got our paychecks earlier," Sango informed him cheerfully as she rooted through her purse, pulling a few smaller items out of it's inner depths.

"What about paying for Kag-chan's room?" the human turned wolf asked in disbelief as the girls slowly finished dumping their purchases out of every crevice and pocket of their beings.

"Aw, don't worry, Inu-chan!" Kagome beamed, kissing him on the cheek. "We'll make it though. 'Sides, what's Christmas without a mountain of presents?!"

Both girls high-fived before dragging all their things into Sango's room to hide before wrapping.

"They've both lost it. . ." Inu-Yasha sighed deeply, falling back onto the couch and rubbing his sore temples, the scent of pine oozing strongly from the tree- detectable even to his mortal nose.

"No we haven't! We've gained it! Gained the holiday spirit!" the brown haired female gushed, running into the living room with her friend and flopping on the floor near the tree, dropping the boxes of decorations the two carried.

"And because of that," the second girl proclaimed, "we are going to spend tonight having fun! If anyone dares think an unhappy thought about ANYTHING or ANYONE-" with this she shot a meaningful look at her mate, "they will be punished by being hugged and forced to eat Christmas cookies!"

"I'm thinking about Naraku!" Miroku announced as he crawled out from under the tree, opening his arms in Sango's direction.

Sango shot him a dry look before chucking an ornament at him. "You don't count."

*

"Let's play a game while we do this," Kagome suggested as the four sat on the floor, eating cookies, drinking hot cocoa-

And untangling colored lights.

"I know!" Inu-Yasha proclaimed sarcastically. "Who can list the most profanities! I'll start! A-"

"NO," Kag glared. "I meant more like 'Truth or Dare'."

"You're no fun," the lavender eyed male pouted.

"Aww. . ." she smiled, kissing him teasingly on the cheek.

"Get a room or knock it off," Sango reprimanded, biting off the head of her Santa cookie.

"So are we going to play or not?" Miroku asked mildly as he straightened out an obscenely large knot in the wiring.

"Sure," the ebony haired female smiled. "But let's play a different way. I'll ask a question and then we'll go around the circle, answering it one by one."

"Sounds sorta like another game I've heard about once," Sango murmured to herself as she fumbled though a tangle. "Some fanfic or another. . . 'One Question' or something like that. . ."

"What was that, San-chan?" Kagome questioned, cocking her head in confusion.

"Hm? Oh, nothing," the teen smiled back.

"Okay. . . Well, anyway, let's see. Oh, I know! What would your dream date be like?"

"As in a person?" Miroku asked.

"Yeah. Sango starts!"

"Umm. . ." the brown haired wolf muttered thoughtfully. "I'd say a guy who's thoughtful, kind, makes me laugh, understands my needs, and is cute. Oh- and doesn't mind being dominated!"

Inu coughed loudly, shooting pointed glances at Miroku, who was still calmly straightening his lights, oblivious to those around him.

"Your turn, Miroku-chan," Kag grinned. "Who's your dream date?"

"Sango," the violet-clad wolf replied without missing a beat.

A brief silence passed before-

"Kawaii!" the mentioned female gushed, feeling incredibly warm and fuzzy inside as she dropped the lights and hugged her mate tightly around the neck.

Christmas time always made her especially emotional.

"Yes! There's my hug!" the perverted wolf beamed as he tightened the embrace.

Inu-Yasha rolled his eyes as Kagome giggled.

"Inu-Yasha?"

He replied by pulling the ebony haired girl into his lap and nuzzling her neck.

"You know, perhaps we should play this game more often?" Kag blushed as she grinned at her friend, who nodded profusely.

"Let's do another round, then," Miroku smirked, winking at Inu. "What would our dream dates be, dates meaning places to go and things to do."

"Oh, I'd say the usual. . ." Inu-Yasha sighed, trying to hide a large, disturbing grin. "Romantic dinner. . ."

"Followed by a romantic walk," his friend added.

"Followed by watching the stars in the park. . ."

"Followed by fracking under said stars," Miroku nodded.

"Yep!"

The girls looked blankly at one another before pushing themselves away from their laughing mates.

"Perverts!" Kagome screeched.

"Don't you have any innocent fantasies?!" Sango glared.

"Innocent?" Miroku asked. "What does that mean?"

He looked to Inu-Yasha for help, but the half-wolf just shrugged.

Kag sighed. "Never mind. Let's never play this again."

"Well, *I* had fun," Inu chuckled, smirking as he watched the brown haired wolf beat up her mate.

*

"Finally!" Sango cried tiredly. "Lights untagged!"

"Now we can decorate the tree!" the second girl gushed.

"Joy!" the guys giggled mockingly, earning mugs over the head from their kois.

"What is it about males that is so- so- so-" the ebony haired female struggled as she and her best friend pulled glass balls of red, gold, and green from boxes.

"So idiotic?" the other girl filled in with a sigh.

"Yeah."

"Well, God could only make perfection once, and he did it with the female."

"Hey!" Miroku pouted. "I'm insulted!"

"Good, because it was an insult," Inu replied dryly. "We'd be worried if you weren't."

"I-"

But Miroku's retort, comment, or complaint- whichever it was going to have been- was cut off by sound of scratchy Christmas tunes drifting though the window.

"What the hell is that?" Inu-Yasha questioned, wrinkling his nose in disgust. Even with his human ears it was obvious that the singers were terribly off-key.

"Christmas carolers!" Kagome beamed. "Ooo! I want to hear!"

She and Sango rushed to the window and threw it open, looking down at the carolers from above.

"Aww! Look, it's Sessho-Maru and some of the pups!" the girls giggled.

Sessho-Maru glanced blankly up at the laughing pair, ignoring the singing children crawling up his limbs and rather fluffy coat of foe fur.

"Gods, make the racket stop!" Miroku groaned, clenching his ears.

Inu's annoyed face suddenly bloomed into a full fledged smirk as he motioned for his friend to follow him.

Curious, the violet clad wolf did so.

"Aww! Look at Shippo! Isn't he the sweetest?" Kagome cooed as she pointed out the child.

"And look at Rin! All sweet in her little Santa hat. . ."

"And-"

"Coming though, ladies," Miroku called cheerfully as he and Inu-Yasha suddenly pushed between their mates, a large pail of water in their hands.

The female's eyes widened.

"DON'T YOU DAR-!"

Too late.

SPLASH!

"INU-YASHA!" a soaked Sessho-Maru screamed from the ground. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"My, my. . ." the lavender eyed wolf murmured thoughtfully. "All the little brats got out of the way just in time. . .Only poor Fluffy-chan got soaked. . ."

Kagome bit her lip in an attempt to hold in laughter as she glanced down at the sopping Sess.

But she- and Sango- both failed.

So all four eventually ended up laughing hard on the floor, trying their best to catch their breath.

*

CRASH!

"Oops!"

"Miroku, you're such a clutz!" Sango sighed, picking up a dust pan and brush from next to the couch, where it had currently been residing for convenience purposes. "I believe you two are aquatinted?"

"Sorry, Sango-chan," he replied happily as he knelt down to sweep up the pieces of a broken ornament he had been attempting to decorate with. "But when I see you, your face, and your perfect body glowing in the soft lights of the Christmas decorations, I cannot help but lose control of my actions! Drop things, bang into things. . ."

"Grope things," Kagome added dryly from behind the tree, seconds before a SLAP! rang out.

"Good timing," Inu-Yasha smirked as he handed his mate an star to place atop the pine.

"Thank you," she smiled cheerfully, getting up on a stool and positioning the star just so.

From his spot on the floor, Miroku- beaten and bruised- smiled up at Sango. "By the way- when are we putting up mistletoe?"

Well, needless to say, that got his another round of slaps. . .

"When *will* we be putting up mistletoe?" Inu asked Kagome, grinning mischievously as he scooped her off the stool, holding her bridal style in his arms as he nuzzled her neck.

"Probably never, with Miroku around," the teen sighed, her cheeks pink. "But that's okay."

She beamed at him. "You can kiss me anyway."

"That's generous of you," he smirked before locking their lips in a sweet embrace.

"No fair!" the perverted wolf complained. "Inu-Yasha's getting some! Why can't *we* get it o-"

SMACK!

*

Later that night, Inu and Kag sat in the dim living room, basking in the glow of the Christmas lights; their soft, multicolored glow comforting as the couple cuddled under blankets on the couch.

Sango and Miroku had gone to bed earlier, Miroku intent on making his mate apologize for hitting him in a suitably snuggly fashion. That had been all the information the other pair needed- or wanted.

"So do you feel better?" Kagome softly asked her mate, cuddling closer to his body and scent for warmth.

Inu-Yasha sighed quietly, a small smile on his face. "Yeah. . . but. . ."

"Don't worry so much," she whispered, her eyes lightly closed as she pulled the quilt to her chin. "Everything will be okay in the end. . . Don't fret each little thing and face the day when it comes. . ."

"I'll try. . ."

"Then we'll make it though."

A moment of silence past, only the distant sound of traffic detectable.

"By the way," Kag yawned, nuzzling closer, "we're gonna. . .go to my house for. . .a holiday meal. . . in a few days. . . okay?"

"Mm. Whatever. . ."

Kagome made a quiet sound of content acknowledgment before drifting off into a light sleep, a small smile on her face.

Noticing this, Inu, chuckling softly and shaking his head, carefully picked her up and carried her to bed, thoughts and worries still whirling though his mind.

But he had promised Kag he would calm down, 'face the day as it came', not fret every little thing. He supposed worrying wasn't healthy, and didn't help them, anyway-

But with so much at stake, who *couldn't* fret?

Still. . .

Kagome didn't want him to.

And for her. . .

He would do his best not to.

~*~

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