1I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

Once Upon a Time in Summer Clothes

The air was hot and heavy, the way it got in July. The fire was banked as small as she dare let it and still have coals to stir up for the morning fire. A single lamp burned to give some light to the room.

InuYasha, having discarded his fire rat clothes for a lighter kosode of grey and red linen moved to where his wife sat, working on some sewing. She frowned as she stitched, her eyes tired, her hair limp from the heat and her blue kosode clinging to her skin where her body had dampened it.

"It's late," he said. He slipped a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to look at her eyes. "You ought to go to bed. You're about to fall asleep."

"Too hot," Kagome said, shrugging him off before tucking her needle into her work. She put it aside, closed her eyes and sighed. Picking up her fan, she made a futile attempt to cool off for a moment, then dropped it as if it were too much work.

He stood up and held out his hand to her. Wearily, she accepted it and let him pull her into a standing position. His eyes glinted just a bit and his right ear twitched.

"You've got something in mind, don't you?" she said.

He grabbed his sword and tucked it into his obi. "You're hot. I'm going to make you cooler," he replied.

She cried out in surprise when he scooped her up and ran out of the house with her. Before she could think of what to say, he bounded up into a tall tree, well above the house level. A gentle evening breeze blew, and the moon, only slightly shrouded by clouds, peaked through the tree branches.

Sitting on a thick branch, he snuggled her up against his chest. "Now isn't this cooler than being in the house?" he asked. "I used to do this all the time when it was hot before you came back."

"Yeah," Kagome said, relaxing against him. "Fresh air, moonlight, and even a breeze. Much nicer."

Slowly her breathing evened out, and held in the secure grip of her husband, at last she fell asleep.

InuYasha sat there a long time, thinking about how perfect everything was - Kagome, the night air, the moonlight - or it would have been, if he had remembered to put on his hakama. He had forgotten how rough the tree bark could be to tender skin.

"That's what youkai healing's for, I guess" he murmured, kissing his wife's head, and shifting slightly to get as much of his kosode under his backside as he could. Content enough, he stayed with her in the tree until the moon set and the house was cool enough for sleeping.