Silver Bells

*note from kira: Tiranth wrote this piece especially for me as I caught her kiriban at DA & this was my prize. She based it of a pic I had drew which can be found here: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/8958179/ It features Inari & Mika who are two OC'c from hers & DelKaidin's story Of Claws & Fangs.

Mika awoke almost a full hour before dawn, though she had only fallen asleep a few hours earlier. Nervous excitement caused her body to tremble. Today was to be her wedding and mating to Inari. She forced herself to remain on the futon, her mother and father were still asleep and she did not want to wake them. Instead she lay with her arms behind her head, staring up at the thatched ceiling, thinking of her mate to be. She was so happy that he agreed to the wedding. Keishou and Haya's had been so lovely. She remembered the day she asked him if he would agree to it.

Mika hummed happily as she washed the day's laundry. She turned to lay a kimono on a flat rock to dry, gasping as she saw Inari sitting nearby. "Inari! You scared me!" she cried, putting a hand to her chest, feeling the rapid beat of her heart beneath it.

Inari smiled at her, "I am sorry my little Mika."

"What are you doing there anyway?" she asked, turning back to her work.

Mika glanced at him over her shoulder, breath catching in her throat at the look in his eyes. She shook her head and laughed softly. "Well, you can just sit there and watch me, then."

She continued her work in silence for a few moments, every once in a while glancing at the kitsune. She was glad he was here. His presence was soothing while at the same time exciting. As she scrubbed the clothes in the cool water she began to think of something she had been meaning to ask him. "Inari? Can I ask you something?"

"Yes, Mika?" he asked, startling her again as his voice came in her ear.

She batted at his hands as they circled her waist, pulling her against him. "Stop scaring me!"

He chuckled. His breath on her neck, giving her goosebumps. "What is it you were going to ask me?"

Mika sighed, leaning back against him, resting her head against his shoulder. "I would like to have a wedding."

Warm soft lips brushed the side of her neck. "If it is what you desire, it is what we will have."

She turned in his embrace, looking up into his forest green eyes. "Do you mean it?"

Inari chuckled again, cupping her cheek, "My little Mika, there is nothing I would not give you if you asked it of me."

Mika sighed happily, her ears picking up the sounds of her father moving around in the main room. She heard him greet Rin, scented her miko sister as she entered the hut. It was time. Throwing off her blanket, she leapt from the futon, racing to begin preparing for the ceremony.

Across the village Inari lay awake in his hut staring up at his own thatched ceiling. Unlike his mate to be the kitsune taiyoukai had not slept at all. As the sun broke the horizon, he rolled over onto his side, bringing his hand up to rest it on the pillow beside him. That space now empty would soon be filled by a fiery haired golden eyed vision, in the same way as she had filled the void in his soul. A smile tugged the corners of his mouth as a soft sigh escaped his lips. Throwing aside the thin blanket he rose and moved through the modest hut, checking that everything was perfect. Inari paused his hand on a door frame as he for the millionth time examined its smoothness. He had built this hut for his Mika. He could still remember the day Inu Yasha, Miroku and Sesshomaru found out he was building it.

The sun was just rising as Inari made his way to the half built hut. He paused before it looking over his handiwork from the last week with pride. Nodding with satisfaction, he removed his kimono, hefted his hammer and set to work on the hut. A few hours later he caught the sounds of voices and the jingle of a staff which heralded the arrival of Inu Yasha and Miroku. Inari looked over the edge of the hut, wiping sweat from his brow and saw the two stop in front of his hut, both had incredulous looks on their faces.

"Inu Yasha, Miroku, good afternoon," he greeted.

"Good afternoon, Inari," Miroku called in reply, "Are you really building this by yourself?"

Crooking one eyebrow in curiosity, the kitsune nodded. "Hai, I am."

Inu Yasha shook his head, "I don't believe it. Sesshomaru has got to see this."

Before Inari could ask why, the hanyou had darted off in the direction of Sesshomaru's hut. Shrugging, he leapt lightly to the ground. Miroku had started walking around making small sounds of approval. Inari took a long drink from his water canteen and soon enough he could hear Sesshomaru's voice drifting up the path

"Inu Yasha, why have you brought me to look at a half completed hut?" Sesshomaru asked, annoyance in his tone.

"That's Inari's hut," Inu Yasha responded, folding his arms, tucking his hands into the sleeves of his haori.

Inari moved over to their side as Sesshomaru said, "So why have you brought me to look at Inari's half completed hut?"

Miroku also joined them, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Inari has done this all by himself."

Inu Yasha snorted, "Some taiyoukai aren't lazy asses, after all."
Inari snorted, choking back his laughter, not at Inu Yasha's words but at the look on Sesshomaru's face. He shook his head as the two continued to taunt the inu taiyoukai. Finally Sesshomaru had turned on his heel, ignoring his brother and friend as they were reduced to laughing so hard they had to sit. Inari shook his head, returning to his work.

The tell tale jingle of metal rings and the soft tapping of staff on wood, heralded Miroku's arrival, drawing the kitsune from his reverie. Inari moved to the front of the hut, greeting the monk. "Good morning, Inari. Are you ready?"

Inari nodded, his excitement and nervousness to great for his voice to work.

Miroku smiled knowingly and beckoned him to follow.

Inari entered the shrine, seeing his mate to be for the first time since yesterday. The sight of her took his breath away. She was dressed in a white silk kimono and furred hat. Looking at her now he could not recall exactly when she had stopped being Sesshomaru daughter and started being his Mika. He recalled the day her mother had left the castle, the wrenching feeling in his heart at her tears. He recalled the day he had rescued her from Makoto and his men, the anger he had felt seeing her in the hands of those ningen. The nightmares he had rescued her from in the weeks that followed, the way her screams had caused him to leap from his futon, ready to slay whatever monster plagued her. They were being married now in the custom of ningen, later he would mark her as his mate but she was already part of his soul. What was it that she saw in him? How could she look at him with such devotion in her eyes? He was many times her age, already old even by youkai standards. She was the very representation of youth and vitality. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and hold her until the end of time.

Mika smiled as she stopped in front of Inari. He looked handsome dressed in green kimono and hakama, his expression a mixture of his usual calm and excitement. The look in his eyes caused her heart to flutter in her chest. Unlike Inari she could remember the day she had ceased to look at him as Inari-sama, Kitsune Taiyoukai of the East. With a simple brush of fingers, an accidental touch, she had known. She had seen herself, older in his arms. She recalled her anticipation, waiting for the day when her vision would become a reality. When his dream touch would become a real one. That day had finally come. As she gazed into his forest green eyes she wondered what it was he saw in her. How could he look at her with such desire? He was older and wiser in the ways of the world, she just an ignorant pup. Yet he had been her savior many times and here he stood now, ready to marry her according to ningen customs. She smiled up at him as Miroku began the blessings that would begin the ceremony.

(A/N: The marking Ritual Inari performs is taken directly, with permission from DelKaidin’s Hello Again [link] All credit for it goes to her, I just ride on the coattails of her success.)

"Oh, Inari...it's beautiful," she gasped, as she saw the hut he had built for her for the first time. It was a modest hut, no bigger than any of the others in the village, in fact smaller than some. Vines decorated with fragrant flowers crawled their way up the sides of the house, to mingle with the thatching on the roof. Mika turned golden eyes on Inari.

"You like it?" he asked, the moonlight dancing in his forest green eyes.

"I adore it," she whispered. "But are we going to stand here and look at it all night or go inside?" she teased.

In answer, Inari swept her into his arms. She squeaked in suprise, wrapping her arms around his neck, as he carried her up the few steps and through the curtained door. He did not stop walking when he entered the front room but continued on to what she assumed would be the bedroom. Inari's head bent to nuzzle behind her ear, sending electric shivers down her spine.
"Now I will make you mine according to youkai law," he whispered, setting her down.

When her feet touched the ground, Mika turned to face him. The kitsune cupped the back of her neck, lowering his head to capture her lips. Her lips parted to him, as her arms moved to circle her mate's neck, deepening the kiss. She whimpered as he pulled away but he put a finger to her lips. "I will be right back."

Pouting slightly, she moved to sit on the futon. As promised Inari returned moments later, a bowl in one hand, pot in the other. She looked curiously at the pot as he knelt placing both between them. When he opened the lid of the pot she caught the scent of ink. "What is that for?"

Inari smiled, pouring some of the ink into the bowl. "This my little Mika is how I will mark you as mine."

Mika's head tilted to the side. Inari had not told her of the kitsune marking ritual and she had assumed that it was the same as the one used by the inu. "With ink?"

"In a way," he replied, obscurely. "You have your dagger?"

"The ritual calls for our blood to be mixed with the ink. I will use this to write the promises I make you as your mate on you."

"You're going to write on me?" she asked, incredulously.

The kitusne chuckled, "Hai, but it will fade and your mark will appear."

"Oh," Mika replied. Intrigued now she took the dagger from its place in the sheath on her calf. The inu hanyou started to hand it to her mate to be. He shook his head.

"You must draw your own blood. The magic will see that I harmed you," he said softly, "And will not work."

Mika nodded, holding her hand over the bowl she prepared to cut her flesh. "Just a few drops, my Mika."

She pressed her finger to the point of the dagger, letting the drops fall into the bowl of ink. Mika set her dagger to the side, waiting to see what Inari would do. He raised his arm and with a look of apology, slashed a deep gash in his forearm with his claws. "Inari," she called, as blood poured from the wound into the bowl, beginning to rise.

Inari shook his head, concentrating on catching as much of the crimson fluid in the bowl as possible. In minutes the flow lessened and the wound closed, accompanied by a sigh of relief from his Mika. Inari intoned the words of the incantation. When he had finished he slid the bowl to the side, moving forward to take Mika in his arms again. "Now I will write my promises."

He pulled back, hands coming to rest on her shoulders for a moment before moving to the tie of her obi. She began to tremble as he removed her clothes slowly. He sat back, looking at her for a moment, "You are beautiful," he whispered, huskily. A pale blush spread over her cheeks that was practically invisible in the moonlight.

Inari tore his eyes away from her, to take the bowl in his hands, dipping his claws into them. "I promise Adoration," he whispered, brushing his claws gently across her forehead, drawing the kanji. The blood ink mixture was warm on her skin, instead of cold as she thought it should be. "Devotion, Encouragement, Faithfulness, To Guard, To Honor, To Cherish, To Inspire, To Keep, To Nurture, To Uplift, To Value, Loyalty, Protection, Respect, Support, To Treasure, Worship, To Defend, To be Yours," Inari continued his promises, each accompanied by a kanji somewhere on her body. Gold met forest green as he spoke the final word, drawing its kanji over her heart. "Love."

She gasped again as the air swirled around them, leaving feather light touches where each Kanji resided. Mika watched in amazement as they faded and a warm comforting feeling spread from the top of her head to the tip of her nose. She felt a tickling on the side of her neck as the warmth faded. Inari's hand brushed the place she had felt the tickling. "Itoshii. Your mark is Itoshii."

A smile curved her lips. Itoshii, beloved. Her smile turned mischievous as she looked up at her mate. "My dear Inari, I believe you are overdressed for this occasion."