A/N: ATTENTION, ALL READERS.
Forest Spirit was nominated by one of you for the 2020 3rd Quarterly Inuyasha Fandom Awards, run by FeudalConnection - the category Best AU/AR.
If you want to vote, the voting will take place between July 29th and August 12th.
I totally didn't run around my room, screeching like a skeksis. Totally. Not me.

Beta: Cstorm86 - totally go check out her stories, they're amazing

Courting Attempts

Shippou was awake at dawn. It was not a usual thing for him, but sometimes the boy just woke up, went to pee and couldn't fall asleep again. He could recognize that it was one of such events when he counted the wooden beams of the ceiling of his room.

Back when he'd lived with his dad, he'd had an alcove in the cave den they'd called a home. It had been nice, cool during summer and warm during winter. He'd had a trunk for his treasures and he'd loved it there. His dad had been the best dad a kit could want.

He'd been funny and wise, and caring. He'd told Shippou stories of kitsune fooling others - youkai and humans alike. He'd even told him a story about his own greatest mischief, the tale of stealing the Thunder Pyke from the famous Thunder Brothers.

Now, no matter how safe Shippou felt in the den of the inu hanyou, the kit never ever looked outside when a storm came. He just hid under his blankets or went to cuddle with the mortal dogs. Sometimes he distracted himself with playing tricks on Inuyasha. And now, he could also go and get hugs from Kagome. He was not alone and he was safe, shielded by a powerful barrier that no thunder youkai could dream to breach, one set by an actual daiyoukai.

He'd promised his dad not to mourn him. He'd promised not to be sad. He'd promised to make his dad proud and get nine tails one day. He was going to make his dad proud.

The boy sat up on his futon, his eyes looking at all the treasures he'd collected over the months he was living at the den. He had shelves and boxes full of colorful rocks, interesting feathers, small animal figures carved out of the wood and other various items. The room smelled of him and his new family members, and it was soothing and reassuring.

He was finishing dressing when he heard a noise. A shadow moved against the paper shoji that led to the outside. Shippou blinked in surprise, before he silently crept towards the door and slid it open, very carefully sticking his head out to look.

Inuyasha was crouching in front of what was Kagome's room shoji. Shippou frowned as he saw the hanyou carefully slide the shoji open, just a few centimeters. Slowly, the man reached in, a few wild flowers in his clawed fingers. When he removed his hand from the inside of the room, his fingers were empty.

Soundlessly, the hanyou leaped over the banister of the engawa, not noticing the kitsune observing him, as he moved hastily away before the woman sleeping inside could sense his presence.

Shippou retreated to his room. 'A gift? Why was Inuyasha giving Kagome a gift? Was it her birthday?' he wondered as he paced around his room, tiny paws stepping over the discarded blanket. He couldn't do worse than Inuyasha and not give something to Kagome.

He looked at his treasures again, his emerald eyes thoughtful.

When Kagome woke up not long after, she found a bunch of wild flowers and a mouse skull waiting for her in the small opening in her shoji.

.

It was a lovely sunny day, the first after a few rainy ones. The forest was lush and brimming with life.

One of the rarest creatures in the lands ran through the forest

Well, maybe 'ran' was a big of a word. Maybe a more fitting description would be 'jogged'. Not terribly fast. More than once it looked like the creature was running in place, looking back with wide, bright eyes.

"You ain't getting near me!" the creature shouted defiantly. The impression of the bold statement of resistance was somewhat deflated when the creature chose to run a few lazy laps around the meadow he entered just a moment ago.

"Don't... mock... me..." panted the pursuer as she made her way, stumbling through some undergrowth and trying to shield her face from spiderwebs spread between the branches that were in her way.

"Here, I'll help!" the tiny voice of a child joined the pair, the boy leaping down on the woman's shoulder from one of the tree limbs. As soon as he landed he started to push the twigs away.

The pursued one stopped his pretense of escape and just snorted as the duo made their way through the dangers of uncharted wildness of his forest. A wide grin spread on his face. He had a bag thrown over his shoulder.

"Ha!" Kgome finally got free and stumbled into the meadow.

Inuyasha had wanted to carry her on his back, but she - keeping in mind Myouga's words - had suggested a game of chase. Which was a terrible choice, because in no time he'd caught her and now she was trying to keep up with the hanyou, who seemed more amused with her by the second.

But his smug smile wasn't going to last for long. She and Shippou were going to get their victory. She glanced to the boy, who winked at her. Her running so slow had given the boy a lot of time to prepare a trap.

"Ready?" she whispered. Inuyasha's ears twitched where he was standing over ten meters away from them.

"What are you two...?" Inuyasha started. Shippou laughed a wicked youkai laugh and exclaimed the name of his trick, while Kagome used a spell of her own.

"Osuwari!" she yelled. In the few seconds it took the beads to activate and pull Inuyasha face down, the kitsune magic blossomed under his feet in a poof of light. Inuyasha yelped in surprise as he hit not the hard ground, but a spongy mushroom wide enough to cushion his whole body before it deflated and disappeared in another poof of light.

"Hey!" the forest spirit barked, but before he could pick himself up, Kagome and Shippou ran towards him. The kit caught the bag and dragged it away while the miko straddled the hanyou's back. She was no match for his strength, but she didn't plan on keeping him down. "You cheated!"

"Let's call it wise resource management," she giggled and stroked his hair before tweaking his ear and blowing air in the other one. Then she jumped off of his back and, with giggling Shippou in tow, ran out of the meadow. The forest rang with her happy laughter.

When she looked back at the forest spirit she could see his ears perking over the tall grass and the golden eyes blazing in the adorably flushed face that was partially obscured by a patch of weeds.

"No stalling!" Shippou urged her to follow him as he chose the most efficient path between the trees. "Gods know what he will do now!"

She giggled breathlessly and hurried after him. Her heart beat fast, gleeful excitement filling her heart, she felt at peace and more alive than ever before as she played with her intended and their ward. She was no longer Kagome the failed miko, she was Kagome, the forest spirit's bride.

Somewhere behind her she heard a hunting howl.

Not even five minutes later, in a bamboo thicket, she thought that it was fortunate that Shippou had the bag with their lunch. There was no way the food could survive Inuyasha pouncing at her and tumbling down a short grassy field with her securely in his arms.

The thought didn't stay in her mind for long because as soon as they stopped rolling, Inuyasha nipped at her ear gently and panted against the side of her neck. The healer immediately felt even more hot than she already felt from all the running. Her grip on the front of his kimono tightened and she bowed her head to hide her blush on his shoulder.

Inuyasha sighed and smiled against the skin just under her ear, then he licked her there, making Kagome squirm and bite her bottom lip to keep from moaning.

"I won again," he declared with mirth in his voice, whispering into her ear. "I'll always catch you, Kagome."

.

Not long after their merry chase through the forest the trio got to their destination - the river bank a way away from the Sunset Village. It was a lovely field of grass and flowers that fell in a gentle slope to the edge of the water, the river curving a bit as it flowed towards the village.

The trees encircled the area, making it look somewhat private. They spread a blanket on the grass and Kagome went behind a veil of reeds and rocks to freshen up and change her attire after their running. Shippou was allowed to help her tie various ties of her chosen robe, but Inuyasha had to sit, guarding the food and not peeking.

When she emerged, Kagome wore a lovely pale blue kimono with tiny clouds of white and rain embroidered with silver thread that rained down her skirt to the sea that pooled around the hem of the long kimono. Her obi was matching white and silver.

"Inuyasha..." she called, feeling self-conscious. Shippou had helped to choose the kimono for today's picnic from one of the chests Inuyasha allowed them to rummage through. She suspected it was one of his mother's and she hoped she was wearing it right.

As she approached, Inuyasha turned around, his eyes widening as he looked at her. She felt a blush cover her cheeks as he stared mutely at her, his own face covered with light dusting of pink, his mouth slightly open. She dropped her gaze to the ground and dared to peek up at him through her lashes when he didn't speak or move for a while.

"You stupid dog!" Shipppou leaped on Inuyasha's shoulder and tugged at his ear. "You're supposed to say she looks nice!"

The former miko blushed and giggled, hiding her mouth behind her sleeve as she averted her eyes again to look at the kitsune, who leaped off of Inuyasha's shoulder because the forest spirit waved his hand at him, still not taking his eyes off of her.

"It's okay, Shippou." she said and smiled awkwardly. Kagome looked straight in his eyes and found herself captured by the yellow orbs, full of awe. Her blush grew deeper when she realized her mouthy hanyou had trouble talking. It was the first time a boy looked at her with that awestruck expression on his face and she felt butterflies in her belly.

"Obi," Inuyasha finally spoke and licked his lips. "It matches."

"Sure it does!" Shippou bragged. "I helped picking it!"

"Do you like how it matches?" Kagome asked, awkwardly stepping forward. And, of course, tripping over the hem of the long skirt she wasn't used to.

Luckily, a pair of clawed hands stabilized her before she could win or lose the battle against gravity. She looked up and saw Inuyasha smirking down at her. Shippou was now sitting on top of his head, peering at her with bright eyes.

"You're one clumsy rain maiden," the forest spirit teased.

"It's not my fault your mom was taller than me," she pouted.

"You can adjust the hems of the kimono in the chests I brought to your room," he murmured, leaning his head down. Kagome's heart sped up when she saw him looking at her lips. Was he going to kiss her? It was a good setting, with her dressed nicely, in this lovely meadow, after he'd saved her from face planting and was still holding her in his arms... She licked her lips and noticed him doing the same, his gaze never straying from her face.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Shippiu yelled and yanked at Inuyasha's hair, balancing on top of his head as the hanyou moved it. "Food!"

"Go eat and leave us alone," Inuyasha huffed and with that the boy was gone. Kagome giggled at that - she could hear the boy already lifting lids of the bowls that stood on the blanket. Inuyasha, who never refused food, just allowed the other terrible glutton to start the feast without him.

Then Inuyasha kissed her still smiling lips, making her forget her amusement for a while. It was a chaste kiss, a mere press of mouths, and yet she felt a bit drunk when he finally lifted his head.

"You always look nice, wench," he murmured awkwardly and let go of her, turning to assess how much of their food was already gone.

Kagome was still blushing and stealing glances at her hanyou a good while after they sat to eat. It was all so new and exciting to her, being in a relationship with a boy had never been an option for her. She had been labeled unlucky, so no matter if she was pretty or not, how good she was at her duties, no boy from the village would have looked at her.

But to the forest spirit she was never unlucky. The man she had dreamed about, who she was infatuated with for months, this man always saw her as a woman, a companion, a partner. Oh, of course, he was often teasing her, but never because he disliked her or didn't believe in her.

And since now he was 'courting' her, she could see that he was trying to act more affectionately- which probably was hard for him, judging by the often terrible attempts at gifts. Seriously, what lover would give his girl a mouse skull? But she guessed the intention was what counted, so she was glad and tried to reach out to him with her love as well, hoping she didn't look and sound like a moron,

Inuyasha and Shippou were in the middle of a 'who gets the last fish piece' battle, when suddenly the forest spirit froze and looked towards the trees. Shippou quickly picked the fish from his chopsticks and ate it with a happy grin and flick of his tail.

"What is it?" Kagome asked, seeing Inuyasha's ears swivel towards a sound she couldn't hear.

"Three females from the village are coming this way," he glanced back at her. "Wanna get away before they're here?"

Kagome thought about it. She still didn't want to go alone to the village, even to visit her mom. But she felt she could handle whoever it was, with Inuyasha at her side. After all, she couldn't stay hidden in the forest forever.

"We can stay," she said softly and stroked Shippou's hair where he sat beside her.

"Good," Inuyasha gave a sharp nod. "You have nothing to fear from them. You're mine to protect."

"And mine, too," the kit added proudly, puffing out his chest, just to be poked and knocked over by Inuyasha's finger.

"Feh, you talk way too big for a runt," the forest spirit teased and Kagome laughed, helping the pouting boy sit back up.

"I trust you," she said, making a point to catch Inuyasha's eye with her. "The both of you," she added with a giggle.

The hanyou bowed his head to hide the faint blush that covered his face and pretended to look for food in the already empty bowls. 'Who would have thought him to be so much like awkward boys,' Kagome thought, amused and a bit embarrassed at the same time.

Three gasps made the healer forget about that the next minute. She looked over to where three girls stood on the edge of the forest, a few paces away from the river. Each had a basket of what looked like towels and clothing. Kagome felt her stomach tighten a bit when she saw three younger sisters of Sakura, her friends.

Were they still her friends? They had seemed concerned and wanted to talk to her after the court, they had hung multiple bells on the Sacred Tree for her to find. But were they really willing to be friends with her now, when she was no longer a part of the village, but instead belonged to Inuyasha's household?

"Um..." Eri started and bowed awkwardly, followed by the two others. "We're sorry. We wanted to bathe in the river, but..."

"We can come back later," Yuka added quickly, all casting fearful glances at Inuyasha, who examined them with a scowl on his face.

"Hi, Kagome," Ayumi waved shyly at Kagome as she tried to hide behind her braver sisters. Kagome returned the wave with a warm, a bit uncertain smile of her own. They all looked startled and afraid of Inuyasha, but none looked at her with displeasure or hate. The glances they cast at her were full of concern and wonder at the same time.

"You can bathe in the river," Inuyasha said flatly. "I don't care."

"Oh, we don't want to impose..." Eri objected, but fell silent when Kagome shook her head and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, he won't peek at you like the village boys," she tried to soothe their fright. Inuyasha snorted as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And he won't attack you either."

Inuyasha grumbled, but didn't deny her claim, which made the girls relax a bit. Kagome smiled, knowing very well how greatly they all feared the forest spirit's anger. To them, despite her tales, he was an unpredictable entity of the wild, the forest spirit who protected the village, but could hurt a human as easily as he could save one.

"Uh, can we talk with Kagome, forest spirit?" Yuka asked after a moment of watching the pair seated on the blanket. Kagome noticed the girls stealing amazed glances at her kimono and almost smiled. As a miko she had always dressed modestly, but there she was, clad in a robe fit for a princess, sitting around with two supernatural beings with no care in the world. Shippou watched the newcomers curiously. Inuyasha glanced at her and Kagome smiled, seeing that he let her decide.

Well, she had decided when she had decided to stay and see the girls.

"Sure. Come and sit with us," she said and gestured to the empty corner of the blanket. The trio approached uncertainly and sat as far from the youkai males as possible, glancing at Inuyasha, as if afraid he'd bite them.

Kagome giggled behind her sleeve at the whole situation. Here she was, with her forest spirit, his kitsune ward and her three friends from the village, sitting around a blanket in the middle of a meadow. Such a lovely image they had to be.

Shippou was curious, Inuyasha tense and the girls afraid. Kagome had to step in and make them all happy and friendly towards each other. Shippou was the easiest, so she turned to him.

"You know Shippou, right?" she said, picking the boy and placing him in Yuka's lap. The kit grinned up at the startled girl. "He plays with the village kids and is mostly good."

"Hey!" the boy pouted. "Don't count minor tricks as bad things!"

The girls snickered and Yuka stroked Shippou's bushy tail.

"We know you are not a bad youkai," she soothed. Kagome grinned. It went very well. Since Shippou was so small and cute, and never acted violently, it was easier for the girls to accept the simple truth that he meant them no harm. Now, came the harder part. She turned to Inuyasha.

"You're not handing me over to any of the wenches," the forest spirit grumbled, glaring sideways at Eri and Ayumi, the latter of the two growing pale and shrinking closer to her sister. "What are you scared of, I ain't gonna eat ya!"

Kagome facepalmed.

Then she imagined Inuyasha sprawled out across Ayumi and Eri's laps and she couldn't do anything to stop her laughter. She reached a hand up to Inuyasha's ear, grinning at his confused face.

"I am not handing you over to anyone," she promised. He was hers - her friend, her protector, her fiance.

"Feh, you better." he grumbled and turned away to, no doubt, hide his blush.

Kagome looked back to her friends, a tad worried they'd be mortified. Their wide eyes were looking at her with awe.

"Um... What's the matter?" she uttered, unsure what the look was about. She blushed a little, realizing how informal she'd acted, touching Inuyasha's ear in front of the other girls. They didn't look horrified or disgusted by it, which gave her a lot of hope that, maybe, they could rekindle their friendship and that they hadn't been nice to her just to avoid trouble.

"You look so beautiful in this kimono," Ayumi said.

"And you are so brave!" Yuka added, Shippou nodding from where he sat on her lap.

"She sure is brave! You all should've seen her shooting that boar when he tried to force her to shoot Inuyasha!" he praised, causing the girls to look even more stunned. Kagome's blush darkened.

"Keh! Of course she didn't hit me!" Inuyasha barked and glanced over his shoulder at them. Kagome felt a warm feeling in her heart, a feeling that got squished with his next sentence. "Her aim is terrible!"

"Hey!" Kagome glared at him. "You can insult my reiki level all you want, but my aim is good!"

Inuyasha smiled - a real, happy, a bit mischievous smile, one that made his yellow eyes shine like polished gold. Kagome stopped in her just ire, staring in his face, the scowl gone from his features. He looked so handsome when he smiled like this.

His ear twitched and suddenly she was aware they weren't alone and that the audience was giggling. Blushing madly, Kagome looked away and tried to pretend she hadn't been caught staring.

"So, yeah... What made you go so far from the village to bathe?" Inuyasha's voice sounded a tad off, as if he was trying to hastily direct everyone's attention to something different.

"Um... Boys tend to sneak near our usual bathing spot and peep on us," Eri confessed, looking down to her lap. "When we bathed with Kagome... earlier... they didn't do that. But now they're back to their old antics... And we thought here they wouldn't find us."

Kagome looked to the three girls, who looked back at her. True, their friendship had started with bathing and doing laundry together, but she hadn't thought about that much. She had never had any trouble with boys trying to catch a glimpse of her in a bath - probably because of her unlucky, undesirable status. So, since she no longer bathed with them, they had to find other ways to keep the perverts away.

"Keh! Kagome ain't a pervert ward!" Inuyasha grumbled and his expression darkened as he glared at the three girls. "Were you using my intended to keep the males away when you bathed?"

"What? No!" Eri bit her lip and turned to Kagome. "Uh, at first... Maybe a little.. But then we got to know you, Kagome. And we don't think you're cursed or anything."

"And we hope we can still be friends," Ayumi said softly.

"And we'd want you back in the village, but if you are happy... here..." Yuka glanced to the fox in her lap and then to Inuyasha. "...We're happy for you. Just don't be a stranger."

"Guys..." Kagome whispered, looking at the trio, honesty in their faces. Her throat tightened when she thought about all those good memories of spending time with them, laughing and experiencing a glimpse of being a normal girl for the first time in her life, having friends.

They didn't hate her, they saw her for who she was, not for the cursed failure. They didn't blame her for being this way or for what had happened to the smith's family. They cared for her, wanted her to be happy, wanted to keep being her friends. They had hung so many bells on the Sacred Tree to let her know they remembered her. They hadn't deceived and used her.

"Kagome..." Inuyasha craned his head to peer in her face. "Are you...? Look what you did, you lousy wenches, she's crying!"

Before the trio could react and apologize, Kagome threw herself at them, trying to hug them all at once.

Shippou yelped and leaped out of Yuka's lap in the last moment before being squished under the pile of girls.

"Thank you!" Kagome cried out, her friends startled, but assuring her of their friendship, hugging her back.

And, behind it all, Inuyasha's voice.

"Oi! Stop crying, the whole lot of you!"