It's been a while, and I know that. These last few months have been a struggle for me, and while writing has not been my priority, it has been a reprieve. Let me start by saying Black Lives Matter. I am in no way political, but if you can feel for a character who is beaten, and tortured, and shunned for being born a hanyou, something he had no control over, than you should also feel the pain of what has happened in the U.S. to George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor, and countless others all around the country and all over the world. Please donate to a Black Lives Matter organization and, if you can, please use your voice to defend black lives and support black authors and creators such as myself. Speak, even if your voice shakes.

I love you all so much, and I appreciate every single one of you who take the time out to read my story, and who use it as a means of escape from the chaos that this world is turning into.

It was late when Inuyasha finally entered the room his brother had given he and Kagome for the night, and the hanyou was tired in his bones.

He'd led his family back to Sesshomaru's dining area after leaving that kami forsaken dungeon, and the Inu no Taisho had not returned to join them through their quiet meal.

Inuyasha would be lying to himself if he said there wasn't a part of him that had longed to join the Sesshomaru in interrogating that flea bitten bastard, that craved answers and blood for all that the hyena knew about Katsumi and Tadao and the South, but the larger part of him had known that his pack needed him; His miko had been weary and stressed from their conversation with his brother, his niece withdrawn in an unfamiliar, completely rational, way. All throughout dinner Shippou and Toshiro had been stiff and still, their ears perked and straining as if to they were trying to hear the screams of the male being held far below the palace. His sons had not spoken or looked at him either, their scents soaked in fear and worry from all that they had heard and seen, the truth.

The truth of what faced their family by the Southern Sea. The truth of the lengths leaders and Alphas had to make to protect their lands, their people. The hard truth of all that they had witnessed this night. It was a reality that Inuyasha had hoped to spare his family from, at least for a while. Inuyasha had not hurt someone for answers in a long time, but he remembered the many times when he had done so. When he had clawed up his enemies to get what he wanted with no regard to the blood on his claws, and had reveled in the pain he'd wrought. And he was not so naive to believe that he wouldn't become that male again to protect the people he loved.

Even still, he'd had to reign in the urge to shred Sesshomaru to pieces when they'd entered that room, for exposing his miko and his pups to the blood and gore of that prison.

After Toshiro's run in with Orochi, Inuyasha had done all he could these months to keep his sons from the harsher things of the world. Sometimes that meant taking on smaller, less dangerous jobs. Sometimes that meant keeping his pack as close as they could to home. Sometimes that meant letting the boys have a day off from combat training to goof off and just. . . be. Shippou and Toshiro had already witnessed and gone through so much. They'd seen enough blood, been through enough torment, to last lifetimes. They deserved the chance to live without the weight of the world on their shoulders, to just be pups. Reckless, stupid pups who sparred like grown youkai well into the day, but when night fell could drop their swords and find comfort and laughter in their home and family.

They deserved to have the happy childhoods Inuyasha did not have. And if he had to storm the South and slaughter Katsumi and her whole court himself to ensure that his sons got just that, he would do so gladly.

Inuyasha had feared that the sight of the strung up hyena would trigger memories of Toshiro's past. He had been tense and ready to yank him from the room the moment he'd seen the male bloody and chained to the stone wall. But the pup had proved his mettle. He had proved that he would not let the torture he'd endured in the past control his present. He had approached the captive hyena with his back straight and his eyes hard and his voice clear, though Inuyasha himself had been nearly sick and shaking at the sight of his boy so close to someone who wanted him hurt, who longed to take him back to that youkai who believed she'd broken him.

Inuyasha was going to tear Sesshomaru a new asshole when he next got him alone for putting his pup in that position, and for suggesting that Toshiro breach the Southern inu lands alone. Even the thought of him doing something so dangerous made Inuyasha's youkai howl, made his blood boil like nothing he'd ever felt, made him ache to sink his claws into the faceless inu female who haunted Toshiro's dreams and Inuyasha's waking thoughts. The pup wasn't doing it. It was absolutely out of the question, no matter Kagome's reasoning or Toshiro's own resolve. They'd find another way.

They had to.

After dinner Inuyasha had walked the boys to their rooms while Kagome had escorted Rin. His pups were quiet as they settled down, still rattled from their experience and still ashamed at their being caught snooping about. Inuyasha was both furious and proud of his sons for their bravery, their gall, but he didn't have it in him just then to yell at them. He had still tucked them into the futon they would share for the night, had still run his claws through their hair and pinched their noses. He had nearly choked on his words as he told them that he loved them, and then had growled low in his throat that if they pulled crap like they had again that there would be hell to pay.

They were still quiet when he slid their bamboo door closed, though he'd known they would not sleep for a while yet.

Inuyasha slid the door to his own room back and instantly felt the day's hardship and tension bleed out of him, as it always did when he saw her. Kagome was seated upright on the single large futon in the room, angled away from him, her face far away and upturned to the moonlight beaming in through their window. Her thick, dark hair was thrown over a single shoulder as she tried and failed to braid it, her fingers tripping and tangling over themselves.

Inuyasha chuckled dryly. "Having trouble?"

Kagome turned, her cheeks still a bit pale from the day's events, her eyes a kind of hollow that made Inuyasha's chest clench. He scoffed as he propped Tetsauiga against a wall, then padded his way over and plopped down behind her, not hesitating before he pulled her small frame between his legs. He let out a great sigh when she gave up on her hair and leaned her weight back against him.

This, having her so near, was all that was right and good.

It was a while before either of them spoke, so busy were they in leaning into the other, in taking comfort from each other.

"Your sons are little devils."

"My sons, are they?" Inuyasha sniggered lowly. "You claimed them first, woman."

She huffed and settled more comfortably against his chest, crossing her arms.

"I told Shippou I was going to make him sponge bath Kaede when we got home."

Inuyasha blinked before he outright laughed, his mirth causing Kagome to jostle and shake against him. When she batted at him in outrage he laughed some more.

"Who knew you were so wicked, Kagome."

She smirked a little, then sighed. "What your brother did. . . what he showed them. . . it was too much."

Inuyasha sobered up a bit, emitting a low grumble in his chest at the distress still coating her scent. He tightened the arm he had wrapped around her waist. "I know it was. He's a cold hearted bastard, but at least now we know that the hyena's have aligned themselves with Katsumi."

Kagome shook her head. "That's a whole other world of problems we need to figure out."

"But not tonight." Inuyasha grumbled.

Not tonight. Tomorrow they would speak to Sesshomaru about what else he'd learned from the hyena being confined beneath the keep, tomorrow they would plot and scheme and strategize how best to be rid of Katsumi and Tadao for good, and how to keep Toshiro away from the thick of the fighting. Tomorrow they would go home. But tonight. . . tonight he didn't want to think about risking his pack's lives again, he didn't want to ponder putting his son in danger, or think about how never in his life had he had so much to lose. Tonight he just wanted to be with Kagome.

Inuyasha came from his thoughts and smiled at the pensive scrunch of Kagome's nose as she resumed her struggle with her hair. He pushed her forward and off of him with a grunt and she obeyed, a look of confusion on her face. Inuyasha said nothing, but swatted her hands away from her hair and pulled the long, midnight tresses back over her shoulder himself. He began running his claws through it, starting at the ends that brushed the comforter beneath them. A peaceful, intimate quiet enveloped them as she let him untangle her hair, her eyes closed and her brows eventually smoothing out.

At least it was peaceful until Inuyasha finally reached her scalp and Kagome let loose a sound deep in her throat at the feel of his nails against her scalp. His gut clenched at the sound, and he struggled to ignore the desire that began to pulse lazy and warm through his blood. She tilted her head back to give him better access, baring her throat to him unknowingly. His eyes immediately focused on the long column of her neck, his hands moving stiffly now as the moonlight cast her smooth skin in an almost ethereal glow.

He swallowed and quickly moved on from massaging her head, tearing his eyes away from the submissive arch of her neck to focus on twisting her long, thick hair into two plaits instead, his large fingers deft and quick. When he was finished she turned to him with wide eyes, completely unaware of her effect on him, her hands feeling the tight patchwork of her braids.

"W-where did you learn to do that?"

"Keh." Inuyasha shrugged, his blood warm with embarrassment and want. "Mother used to let me braid her hair all the time."

Kagome blinked at him in surprise, but his own eyes had somehow become wholly focused on the small "o" of her full lips.

He shook his head to clear his hazy thoughts, reigning in his want to pin her to the futon and kiss her stupid. Though they had kissed a few times since that day under Goshinboku, those moments were far and few in between, and moments that Inuyasha admittedly tried to avoid. On those rare occasions when he had allowed himself to kiss her, he'd felt his youkai rip and rage inside of him, felt his youkai begging him to finally tell her what he'd known for years, begging him to finally mark her and take her as his own.

They'd been doing well with taking it slowly, and Inuyasha knew that that was what they needed after everything they'd been through. Letting his baser instincts have their way now would be less than helpful, no matter how his youkai yearned and whined for it every minute he spent in her presence.

Kagome yawned and Inuyasha huffed through his nose like a bull, pulling himself from his head again to lift their blanket and pull her with him as he went to lay down. They settled into their large futon, Kagome curled on her side, facing him with her cheek pillowed on her hand. He watched her nestle into their pillow, her low sigh close enough to wash over him. The eyes that met his were wide and still a bit far away, no doubt worrying over their sons, or Sesshomaru, or Katsumi, or everything.

But even with everything going on around them, all that the hanyou knew that he and his family would soon face, he knew that in this moment he didn't want Kagome's mind to be far away. He didn't want her fretting over things that could be saved for sunrise, he didn't want her thoughts on anything but how right it felt to be with him. Just as he was thinking about how right it felt to finally have her so near. He reached across the futon and pulled her closer, so damn grateful that she didn't pull away or protest. She cuddled into him and he marveled at the feel of her, at how after all of this time and heartbreak he could hold her like this.

His breathing nearly stopped when those far away eyes finally looked up and focused on him, the dark brown reminding him of warm things like firewood and the earth and home. She titled her neck back to watch him with a soft, thoughtful expression and he didn't let himself hesitate as he reached between them to cup her cheek. His heart thumped unevenly in his chest when she leaned into him with a small noise, her eyes closing in trust and contentment.

There was no great instance in which his control snapped. There was no special words of his undoing, no event that sent his blood skyrocketing or had his youkai taking over.

It was just her, as it had always been.

Kagome. The girl who'd held his heart from the moment she released him all those years ago, the friend who kept by his side even when he'd given her every reason to turn away, the woman who took in children who had no home and gave them one and more without ever batting an eyelash. The miko who unflinchingly spoke of war and bloodshed when all she wanted was to heal.

Leaning in to kiss her felt like coming home.

She was soft, and she was warm, and she was everything he had never let himself hope for. How many nights had he wished that he had the courage to press his lips to hers? How many times had he fantasized about this exact moment, where she kissed him with just as much passion, where her mouth was just as willing and loving against own? Her lips parted under his and he felt the warmth in his blood begin to simmer, felt desire begin to pulse thick and hot in his blood. Inuyasha groaned into her, rolling them until he was placed above her, his large hand trapping her head and her small one gripped onto his waist. Her mouth opened effortlessly under him and he let himself drown in the taste of her, in the feel of her tongue warring with his own, in the smell of her wildflower scented aura nearly purring as it danced with his own youki. She let out a small gasp when he shifted his hips against hers and he nearly came out of his skin, he nearly—

This is not taking it slowly.

Inuyasha ripped his mouth from hers with a low growl, forcing himself off of her and back onto his knees. Kagome was panting, her chest heaving and her lips swollen and red from his kisses. He could smell the arousal beginning to waft from her in soft, heady waves, yanking on the leash of his restraint. He could still taste her on his tongue. Her eyes were blown so wide he could hardly see the brown in them, her cheeks a bright, beautiful red. She looked up at him in shock, and embarrassment, and longing, splayed out onto their futon, her braids beginning to unravel from where Inuyasha had apparently been tangling his hands in her hair.

He wanted her so badly, and she was right there and willing—

When she reached for him he jerked back as if stung.

"K-kagome. I. . . I can't. I need a moment."

She sat up across from him, her hair disheveled and her face flushed.

"What is it Inuyasha?" Kami even her voice had his youkai spiking.

He struggled to find his voice.

"I-it's you. It's always been you, and I want to-I need to—"

Kagome tilted her head in confusion, an obviously canid trait she must have picked up from him, and that he doubted she even noticed. The sight of her doing it only made him want her even more. "Talk to me. Tell me what you need."

He looked away from her, clearing his throat and forcing his instincts down. The last thing he wanted right now was to take it slow. And that was what they'd agreed, that's what was right after all this time, what she deserved. But she had a right to know what she was getting herself into, what taking this path meant for someone like him, what taking it slow would eventually mean for a hanyou. What his intentions were. . .

"We've never talked baldly about. . . about mating. About what it entails and what it would mean if you chose to tie yourself to me. What that would mean. . . for us"

Kagome straightened in interest, her desire taking a backseat to her curiosity. Inuyasha almost laughed at the quick change.

She straightened the rumples from her shirt, smoothed back the hairs that had begun to cling to her forehead in their heated moment. "So tell me."

The hanyou cleared his throat awkwardly, sinking to the futon to cross his legs and willing his blood to cool. He couldn't look at her as he begun.

"When an inu youkai. . . hanyou, male, whatever. . . chooses their mate there are steps that they take before they seal the bond. First there is courting, wherein the male proves himself to be a good mate to his female." The hunting presentations flashed in Inuyasha's mind, how he'd always instinctively shown off when she watched him spar and fight. "Next is marking, during which the male publicly states his claim on the female through a bite and a resulting mark, which will fade over time if the bond is not completed. Then . . ."

"Then what?" Kagome blinked innocently at him and he blushed a dark red, coughing into his hand and forcing the words out.

"Then, if and when the female accepts, the two complete the bond. And because inu mate for life, when the bond is completed the pair are eternally tied together."

"Compl—?" Kagome' eyes widened in realization, her fair skin quickly flushing. "Oh."

"I'm not trying to make a pass at ya or anything." Inuyasha said quickly, cursing how his words tripped over one another. "But I've technically been courting you for months and. . . and I-I want to stake my claim on you. I want to mark you so my brother, and that perverted monk, and that shitty wolf all know my intention is to eventually take you as my mate. . . if you'll have me." He finished lamely.

Kagome stared at him for what felt like hours. He drew himself up to meet her stare, forced himself not to squirm under her measuring look because he would not waver dammit. He was no longer the pup he was when she'd released him all those years ago. He was no longer the unsure, conflicted boy who didn't know if he wanted to be human or youkai, to be with Kagome or follow Kikyou into hell. He knew who he was, and he knew what he wanted.

Kagome nodded her head at him and, with no hesitation whatsoever, scooted closer to him and tilted her head to the side, baring her neck to him in a way that called to the beast he had just calmed.

Inuyasha started. "K-Kagome you can't just—You don't have to—You don't know what this means!"

"It's a promise, right?" She met his eyes with clear brown ones, her brow scrunched in slight confusion. "That I'm yours and you're mine, that we'll always be together."

"Yes but—"

"So I accept your mark."

"We don't have to-I mean I would never expect you to—"

"I promised I would always be by your side, Inuyasha. We promised that . . . and if we make it out of this crap with Katsumi alive, then. . . then I see no point in rejecting what I want. I claimed you to Kouga, it only makes sense to let you claim me too."

Inuyasha's mouth fell open. He could feel his youkai stirring in excitement but he held himself completely still, afraid her words were too good to be true. She knew what this meant, now knew that for him this meant forever. He could hardly believe that she was so accepting of this, that she wanted what he'd hardly let himself dream for. But the miko tilted her head again, baring the long column of her throat in a submissive gesture that had Inuyasha's youkai markings flashing on his skin of their own accord, her eyes open and trusting and full of love as she waited.

She was right. There was no reason to hesitate or doubt, not anymore, not when he knew what he wanted, and so it seemed did she. They had been together through hell and back, through battles and blood and heartbreak. They had always been together, and would always be. And now they were parents. They had always looked after Shippou together, but with Toshiro's arrival a shift had come over all of them, like they had been waiting for the grumpy little hanyou's appearance to complete their pack. They had both stated their claims on the pups who, thanks to Totosai, now smelled as if they were of Kagome and Inuyasha's own flesh and blood. They were already a family.

She was already his mate and equal.

Inuyasha reached forward slowly, giving her ample time to change her mind. He carefully pulled her flush against him, his arms wrapping tight around her waist as he brought her close. He hesitated one more time, giving her a final chance to reject him, but she just leaned into him trustingly, her eyes closed and expectant. Inuyasha placed a sweet, chaste kiss onto her lips, beyond grateful that she had never given up on him, and that she would take his mark without an ounce of indecision. It was only right that he show her the same faith.

Inuyasha felt relief crash through him as he leaned down to finally seal his mouth over the juncture between her neck and shoulder, his youkai howling in victory and joy. She let out a small gasp and grasped tightly onto his haori at the feel of him on her neck, Inuyasha supporting her weight as she went limp and giving against him. His fangs lengthened just as he bit down, his canines piercing her soft human skin like butter, her blood like wine on his tongue.

His youkai immediately clawed at his ribcage at the taste of her. But he forced the instincts down, refusing to succumb to that part of him when Kagome had placed so much belief, so much trust in him.

He was careful to bite deep enough for his mark to take hold, but not too deep to truly hurt her. He could feel his youki flowing from himself to her through the bite, feel a part of himself latching onto and taking root in a part of her, claiming her as his and his alone. The nagging itch of his instinct begging him to bite deeper quickly became unbearable, and so Inuyasha released her with a pant, forcing himself to pull back, to stop. He put a bit of distance between them on the futon, licking her blood from his lips and struggling to push down that feral part of him that wanted to complete the bond now now now.

It took him a while to compose himself, so loud was his youkai raging in his ears.

When the rush of his blood finally -finally- dulled he looked up to meet her eyes, a part of him afraid and expecting to see disgust and fear on her face at his lack of control. But she only smiled brilliantly at him a moment before she threw her arms around his neck in a crushing hold, his nose buried against her throat and the bright, bloody indentations of his teeth. He licked the wound clean of blood, strange, inu sounds of comfort and reassurance that he had never before made in his life leaving him as he did. Already he could smell his scent mixing with her own, changing the shape and color of her aura to something all together them. He would keep his nose pressed against the mark forever if he could.

He pulled himself back again to inspect his bite, the skin around the mark already changing a bruising color. He pressed a soft, loving kiss against it and felt Kagome shiver against him.

He smiled.

Until she chose to claim him in that way, to complete the bond that was thrumming between them now like a vein or a heartbeat, then the bite would have to do. It would act as a blaring sign to everyone of their promise. It would tell everyone that she was spoken for, and that to pursue her meant not only to face his wrath, but the wrath of his pack. As was inu custom. She was his. After all this time his mark was finally on her and the world would know.

She was his.

0:0:0:0:0:

"Disgraceful."

A grunt and an easy deflect.

"Pitiful."

Twin growls of frustration, grunts of exertion.

"You two dishonor this family."

"Aaargh!" Shippou roared into the sky, but didn't lower AoKaen. He didn't dare. "What more do you want from us?!"

Sesshomaru flicked a leaf from his shoulder carelessly, not a smudge of dirt staining his white clothes or his moko-moko sama while Toshiro and Shippou were covered with it, shining with sweat and near heaving.

Sesshomaru had burst into their bedroom with the sun, his eyes as cold as ever and his shoulders as stiff. He barely allowed them time to open their eyes before he'd yanked their blanket from them, commanding they wash and ready. He'd ushered them to the dining area for a quick breakfast of porridge and fruit and fresh meat, and just as quickly rushed them to the back garden for a grueling combat lesson. They'd been at it for over an hour and they had yet to once get past their uncle's defenses, while he'd consistently broken through their own as easily as a stone fell through water.

"Want?" The male said now with a raised eyebrow. "Nothing. What you need, on the other hand, is to learn to fight like the noble line you undeserving wretches now represent."

Toshiro could barely bare his teeth as he panted, "I was already born to a noble line."

"Not this one." Sesshomaru shot the hanyou pup a sharp look. "And This Sesshomaru shall not have his nephews waving their blades about like common mongrels."

Shippou's tail flicked once in irritated exhaustion. "Father taught us to fight."

"Hn. A common mongrel, as I said." He flashed Bakusaiga. "Raise your sword."

Toshiro growled low, stabbing Akakaen into the dirt at his feet. "I'm tired of training, Uncle."

The dai youkai curled his lip. "This Sesshomaru cares not, ready your weapon."

Toshiro shot the male a glare most would have died for. "No. I'm tired."

"You are making excuses." Before the pup could retort the youkai pushed on, his tone impatient. "You are afraid of all you saw and heard yesterday. You are frustrated at your own helplessness."

Toshiro felt his navy blue youkai markings flash once, even with his sealing sword so close by. His lips peeled back over his teeth in challenge. He was tired, and afraid, and stressed. He had hardly slept, and was in no mood to have his shortcomings thrown at him like daggers.

"I'm done, Uncle."

"You are done when I deem you so." Sesshomaru bared his teeth right back. "You want not to be useless? Then use that anger. Hone it so that it does not control you, cannot muddle your little mind. Become a weapon that can keep this family safe. You will not resort to excuses and platitudes. You are not the helpless mess of rags you were when I found you. Fight."

Toshiro's growl was menacing as he snatched Akakaen from the ground, the sword instantly lighting with his youki. Shippou mirrored his brother and Aokaen glowed with blue fire. The bother's spared barely a glance before they darted forward simultaneously, falling effortlessly into synch.

Sesshomaru stopped Toshiro's blade with his own, and stopped Shippou's with his bare hand. The fire of Aokaen was kept from burning the youkai by the beginning glow Sesshomaru's energy whip surrounding his hand. The brothers pushed forward, straining against the might of the Inu no Taisho to absolutely no avail. Sesshomaru shoved their blades down, knocking the boys off balance before he grabbed them up by their shift fronts and lifted them from the ground as if they weighed nothing. They struggled in his iron grip, Toshiro's youki raging and shifting along the blade of his weapon as Sesshomaru knocked the brothers' heads together with a hard clang. They cried out and Sesshomaru tossed them back onto the grass with a dismissive snort.

Toshiro rolled to his feet instantly, one hand balancing him as he crouched low to the ground, the other holding his sword aloft.

He may be afraid, of fighting the horde of hyenas, of facing Katsumi again, of losing his family, but Sesshomaru was right; he was not helpless. He would never be again. And he would not back down from a fight, be it with a simple human man or the Inu no Taisho himself. Be it a training session or a battle to the death.

He full on growled at his new uncle, who only looked back at him with an unimpressed set to his chin.

The hanyou pup did not give warning before he shot for the male again, not even looking aside to see if his brother had moved forward with him. He didn't have to; he could predict Shippou's movements as if they were his own.

Sesshomaru grinned as they charged him, and raised Bakusaiga.

By the time Sesshomaru let up the pair of brothers were splayed in the grass, and the sun beat down on them from its place at the apex of the sky. Their clothing was soaked through with sweat and their arms trembling, their blades no longer lit with flames or frustration where they were tossed to the ground beside them.

The Inu no Taisho didn't even look winded.

"You both require more practice." Was all the male said as he looked down his nose at them.

Shippou glared. "You call that practice? You almost killed us!"

Sesshomaru snorted lowly. "If your father could withstand this training, then so should you be able."

Toshiro found the energy to lift his head from the ground. Barely. "You trained our father?"

"A long time ago." Sesshomaru's eyes were a bit far away. "He stayed in this keep for a time."

Inuyasha had lived here with Sesshomaru? When had this been? And why did Inuyasha never talk about it? The questions were burning at the tip of Toshiro's tongue, as always, but before he could form them—

"Oi! What the hell are you doing with my pups?" Came the brash, deep voice of the hanyou in question.

Inuyasha was stomping toward them, his eyes flashing and his sword already out. Kagome walked hand in hand behind him with Rin, the two females busy eating some sort of pastry they must've grabbed from the kitchens.

"Training."

Shippou cut in "He tried to kill—ugh!"

Sesshomaru placed a booted foot on the kitsune's back and Shippou let out a squeak of protest, his arms and legs flailing as he tried to free himself. Toshiro chuckled lowly, even as his heart still raced and his muscles refused to move.

Inuyasha swung Tetsuiga in a threatening flourish, his grin wide and toothy as he aimed his blade at his brother. "Let's go, bastard. I owe you one for yesterday."

Sesshomaru simply looked him over, then the woman who held his human pup's hand, his nose twitching ever so slightly. Toshiro's head tilted when Kagome went pink at Sesshomaru's inquiring stare, and so he took a sniff of his own and his eyes widened at what he caught on the wind. His head immediately snapped to his brother to see if he had caught on as well, but Shippou was already smiling at him, his tail swishing excitedly and his eyes lined with tears.

Inuyasha had done it.

Kagome was marked and officially his intended mate.

They were a family.

"Oi, pups get the hell out of the way!" Inuyasha barked at them, no bite in his tone. "I gotta shove Tetsauiga up yer uncle's ass real quick."

Sesshomaru removed his foot from Shippou's back and tossed his Moko-moko sama over a shoulder with an air of superiority. "As if you could."

Toshiro grinned and rose with a groan as his father and uncle faced each other on the training field, the two males paying no heed to the pups who scampered out of their way. They only had hard, calculating eyes for each other.

Toshiro trotted to where Rin and Kagome sat in the grass to watch, accepting the extra pastry his mother offered with a smile. He tried not to stare at the medical patch covering her obvious mating bite, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. There was a part of him though, an obviously inu part, that longed to get a closer look at the mark, to sniff around it and ensure that his father's youki had taken root, to make sure that this all was real and not some fever dream.

But he didn't. He just stretched out in the grass beside Kagome, and glared at Shippou as the kit bent down to rip a part of Toshiro's pastry for himself.

He growled and snapped his teeth at his little brother. "Get your own, scavenger."

The fox just grinned at him with his stolen treat between his teeth, making sure to swat Toshiro on the cheek with his tail as he sauntered by to sit beside Rin.

"Tch." Toshiro shoved the rest of the raspberry tart into his mouth.

As Inuyasha and Sesshomaru ran at each other, Kagome's pestering hand found their way to Toshiro's face, intent on wiping him free of crumbs and dirt. He groaned and pretended to be annoyed, when really he was pleased by the motherly attention. He liked that she cared about him being clean. When she finished her fussing he settled more comfortably onto his belly in the grass, his side pressed up against his mother's legs and his eyes on the males who had been sparring as if no one else was there.

It was exhilarating to watch Sesshomaru and Inuyasha go at it. The pup was almost unsure whether or not the two were trying to truly kill each other by how quickly they moved, how close they repeatedly came to beheading the other. It was clear that both males were holding back, but still the trees groaned and moved from the forces of their blades, the wind changed direction on their command. He watched, and learned, and laughed at how his father kept up a steady stream of curses all throughout.

Toshiro could not wait until he and Shippou could fight on such a devastating degree. And he hoped that Sesshomaru would continue training them now that they were all family. There was so much they could learn from the dai youkai, even though Toshiro knew every lesson with him would be akin to a full on, bloody battle. He knew that Sesshomaru would push them harder than even their father, and realized that he was kind of excited at the prospect.