The Taisho fire

Doubts

Smoochies ahead. There's so much great art done on inuYasha, I've picked images all over the net.

Gwen gaped at the revelation, the number bouncing in her head so wildly that she feared for the integrity of her skull.

"You're fifty-two."

He nodded, watching her with the intensity of a predator about to pounce.

"More than twice your age."

"Not for much longer."

Her reaction caused his running thoughts to pause. It was... very true. Her next birthday would mark the moment when her age became more than half of his. The young woman reached out. Tōga froze as her fingers traced the planes of his face, the ridge of his straight nose, the smooth skin that had, once, proudly displayed his markings, the line of a sculpted jaw. His heart danced at her touch, forgetting, for a scant moment, that reality would come crashing in soon enough.

When she kissed his cheek tenderly, he couldn't help but snake an arm around her waist possessively. Why he trying to push her away ? To protect her ? His mind and body were at war, but Tōga was too strong willed to pursue her without laying down all his misgivings. Capturing her in his gaze, he watched her mind struggle with the concept of his age.

"How is this possible ?", she eventually asked. "You don't look a day over thirty."

"I... don't know."

She bit her lip, causing his instinct to go haywire. Tōga stomped upon them without mercy, sheepish that he couldn't ever offer an explanation.

"What does your parents look like ?", she asked.

Time to come clean.

"I was adopted. I never met my birth parents."

Sadness flickered in her eyes before the cogs of her mind started running anew.

"Oh... Could it be because your yōkai soul is stalling the ageing process ? Did you mature later than the others ?"

"It did take some time, yes."

There was a world left unsaid here; about the tests doctors insisted he take, and the time his father pulled him out of school to allow time to follow its course. Difficult years, as a teen, when he despaired he would ever mature. Then he came into his prime and began acing all physical scores, wondering if he should get further and become an athlete. The dreams had stalled his hand; perhaps it was for the best to remain inconspicuous. Deep down, Tōga had felt danger lurking.

"Does it mean you'll live to be a hundred and something ? Or stop ageing altogether ?"

His frustrated sigh caused her to retreat slightly; he stopped her before she could put too much distance between them.

"I have no clue, Gwen, other than age slowly."

His hand ran circles down her back, seeking the comfort of her body as he laid his fears at her feet. For a moment, the young lady just frowned, compiling information until her features relaxed.

"Then it doesn't matter, right ? Unless it affects your health ?"

A confident smirk quirked his lips.

"You're well placed to know I am in perfect health", he purred seductively.

Gwen blushed at the implications, cupping his cheek with such tenderness that his heart threatened to burst. She wouldn't ask, wouldn't pry until he was ready. From up close, he spotted the streaks of dark blue that adorned her grey irises; her gaze swallowed him whole, accepting him the way he was, calling him in.