AN: All standard disclaimers apply. Thought we were done with this, huh? Well, my brother and I can't seem to get enough of these crazy adventures - and misadventures. Enjoy!
Father's Day
A Shippo Shorty.
Shippo hopped out of the well and ran to Kagome's front door. Kagome and her family were just sitting down to breakfast when he knocked loudly..
"Shippo, what are you doing here?" Kagome's mother asked when she opened the door.
"Oh nothing, I just came to see Kagome, and to snag a bite to eat. Songo's cooking gets a little old after a while." He told her.
"Well come on in." Kagome's mother fixed Shippo a place at the table and he and Sotta sat making funny faces and laughing while Kagome and her grandfather had another discussion about pickles and shrine history. "Kagome, tomorrow is father's day remember." Her mother reminded her. "We're going to visit your father's grave tomorrow so don't forget to pick up some flowers this afternoon."
"Okay Mom, thanks for reminding me." Kagome said getting up from the table. Shippo watched them for a moment then he got up too. He walked with Kagome to the steps of the well house and then stopped.
"Kagome, what is Father's day?" He asked her. Kagome stopped then too and looked down at her small friend. She wasn't sure what he was really asking her at first.
"What's father's day?" She said. "Oh, well that's a good question. You don't know about holidays and things, do you. I suppose the best way to describe it is a day to honor your father." She explained. "For us though, it's a time to remember father and to lay flowers on his grave."
"So then you really didn't know your father." Shippo said. "I didn't really know mine that well either. I know that he loved me though."
"Then that's all that matters." Kagome said to him. "I'll see you later, go home now, the others must be worried about you. I can already hear Inu-yasha."
"Yep." Shippo hopped into the well and in the blink of an eye he was gone, back to the feudal era.
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Kagome thought about her answer to Shippo about father's day and then about her own father. It had been hard on them all, living without him all those years. There were times when Kagome would have really liked to have a father to talk to about things. But she had her mother, grandfather, and little brother. They weren't the most perfect family in the world but they were her family. She also had Inu-yasha, Shippo, Songo, Miroku, and Keade. They were just like family to her. Then she remembered that she was meeting her friends that day and she rushed off.
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Shippo emerged from the well and scurried back to the hut where Songo and Miroku were already fighting over something and Inu-yasha was sitting in one corner sharpening his sword.
"I'm back, did you miss me?" He asked pleasantly.
"Nope." Inu-yasha replied, "Barely noticed that you were gone." This made poor little Shippo kind of cross with the Han-you and so he turned away. "Hey, polish this up for me." He said tossing the sheath to him. Shippo looked down at the sheath and then at Inu-yasha.
"Really?" He asked.
"Sure, why not." Shippo smiled and took a clean rag out of the cupboard. Inu-yasha had never let him even come near the Tetseiga before, now he was letting him clean the sheath. This was amazing. Shippo really wanted to do a good job for him so he polished and rubbed until his hands were sore. When he was done, he handed the sheath back to Inu-yasha gently. "Yep, good job kiddo."
"Thanks." Shippo replied happily then sat down to watch as Inu-yasha wrapped the sword and sheath up in a blanket and laid them in a trunk. "Aren't you gonna wear it?" He asked.
"No reason to right now. There are no monsters to fight and no shards to collect either. I've got it nice and clean, and sharp, so now I'm just gonna let it rest. You shouldn't worry about it so much squirt." Inu-yasha told him, then rubbed his furry little head. It was then that Shippo realized something. That Inu-yasha was the closest thing to a father that he had. Kagome was like a mother to him and Songo and Miroku were like his Aunt and Uncle.
"Wow." Shippo thought as he hung around the hut that day. "They really are like my family. I should do something nice for them tomorrow on Father's day to show them all that I care about them." But what to do, he wondered. "I can't get them all flowers, but I could get them all something really nice." He took out his pouch that he wore around his neck and looked at what he had squirreled away. He had two gold pieces, a stick of gum that Kagome had given him, and an old button. "Well this won't buy much." He said to himself. "Not in my time anyway, but I remember that in Kagome's time, coins like these are worth a lot of money." He ran back to hut and grabbed his fox cub pajamas then he ran to the well and jumped in. With a careful disguise he could trade his two gold pieces for some money and buy his friends something nice from Kagome's time. The problem was where to go to, to trade in his gold pieces. He didn't know any coin dealers but he did know of one person who collected coins and just about anything else.
"Wow shippo, these are terrific coins." Mokuba Kaiba said as he examined the two pieces of gold under a microscope. "How much do you want for them?"
"I don't know, enough to buy something nice for Inu-yasha and the others." He said.
"Okay, well, how about I pay you ten thousand yen each, then I'll help you pick out something nice for your friends." Mokuba said.
"You'd do that for me?" Shippo asked.
"Oh yeah, I have to go shopping for Setto today anyway, he wants me to pick up some new cards for him that just came out."
"Sounds good." Shippo said and then he and Mokuba left the Kaiba Corp headquarters together in the corporate limo.
"If there's one thing I know how to do, Shippo, it's help people find what they're looking for. My brother says that's a good business skill and that it'll take me far one day when I strike out on my own." Mokuba told him.
"You mean that you'd actually leave your brother's company and start your own?" Shippo asked, looking over at him.
"No, not really, at least not right now. Setto says that I should consider it one day when I'm older and have a better understanding of business. Still, being the number two man at Kaiba Corp is exciting enough. I'd never leave for anything." The ride to the mall was insightful for Shippo, he learned a great deal more about the future time than even Kagome had told him. Mokuba Kaiba was friendly, helpful, and fun to hand around. The two of them were close to the same ages too, so that made it easier for the two of them to get along. They went window shopping at all the malls, took in a movie, and even had lunch out. This was actually more like a play date. In the end though, priorities had to come first. Mokuba found the cards that his brother wanted and then he helped Shippo pick out some gifts that he knew the others would enjoy.
"Here we go." Mokuba said. "Kagome will love this French perfume. And if I'm any judge of character, Songo will like this necklace."
"Great, now what about Miroku and Inu-yasha?" Shippo asked. Mokuba had to think about that for a moment. Buying gifts for girls was easy, buying gifts for guys was a lot harder and especially so for guys who lived back the feudal era.
"Well, there is one place full of stuff that I know Miroku would like but we're too young to go in there. " Just then though, Mokuba came up with a spectacular idea. There was an old antique store not far away that sold things like swords, knives, masks, and other neat stuff. They could go there and try find something. They hopped into the limo and sped away from the mall. Daylight was wasting away into dusk and the shop would be closed before long.
The old antique store was a little run down and covered with vines but it was still very nicely decorated on the inside. Mokuba and Shippo looked around while they waited for the shop keeper to attend them. The store was filled with lots of old knickknacks, books, and weapons. They had definitely come to the right place. Just then though, a spooky old woman came from behind the counter at them.
"Aaaahhh!" They screamed as she danced around them in and old Noh mask.
"Just a little joke youngsters, no need to be frightened." The old woman said taking off the mask and showing an even more hideous face. "Now what can I help you with?" She asked. Shippo came out from behind Mokuba, where he'd been hiding, and gulped.
"Uh, I need some help finding a gift for my friends Inu-yasha and Miroku." He said, still frightened. The old woman pondered over the matter for a moment.
"A gift for your friends, well that's something, not too many people in a generous mood these days, it's all about me, me, me and what can I get for myself. This requires me to bring out some of my good stuff." The old woman quickly vanished into the back room and then reappeared again. "It would help if you could tell me a little more about them." She said.
"Well, Miroku's a Monk, but he's not a very good one and Inu-yasha is a brave warrior." Shippo told her.
"A brave warrior and an untrustworthy monk. Not too many of those around anymore, either. Let me see." Clattering and clinking and shattering could be heard coming from the back room as the old woman searched franticly. Mokuba and Shippo waited patiently until at last the old woman came back out again with two very special items in her hands. "These should do nicely." She told them. "This is a prayer scroll handed down from my father's father's father's father. And this is the dagger of the dead. Whomever possess it is said to hold mystic powers over the dead."
"Wow!" Shippo exclaimed. "I'll take them both." He pulled out his cash and handed it over to the old woman who counted it quickly then stuffed it away.
"They are yours, but remember, these are mystical items, not to be used for petty grasping ambitions. Beware that you nor your friends ever use them for selfish purposes." The old woman vanished into a puff of blue smoke then and left Mokuba and Shippo to leave the shop of their own accord.
"Well, it's been fun Shippo." Mokuba said to his new friend, "Where can I drop you at, the Shrine?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Do you think that you could give me a hand with these packages first though." He said climbing into the limo.
"Sure, I'll even carry them to the well house for you." Shippo's day of fun and games and shopping was over and he was going back home a happy little kitsune for the trouble he'd gone to for his family and when Father's day came they all awoke to a big surprise.
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"What's this?" Kagome asked as she awoke that morning to find a small package on her nightstand. "It's from Shippo. To my new Mom, the best mom of the face of the earth, love Shippo. New mom?" She was very surprised and flattered by the thoughtfulness of the gift. She opened the small neatly wrapped package "Wow!" She exclaimed, "This is expensive stuff. French perfume. That sweet little guy, he's going to get a s special dinner for this tonight."
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"Father's day, what's that?" Inu-yasha demanded as Shippo wished him a good father's day.
"It's a day to remember one's father and you're the closest thing I have to one, so I got you this." Shippo said handing over the dagger. Inu-yasha looked at his suspiciously for a moment.
"A hary-kary dagger, what's the joke?" He asked.
"No joke, a real gift just for you. It's the Dagger of The Dead, and it's said to have mystical powers over the dead," Shippo said presenting the dagger while kneeling prostrate on the ground before the mighty half demon who'd taken him in. Inu-yasha picked up the dagger and examined it carefully, pulling it slowly from its sheath, reading the inscription on the blade, and never taking his eye off Shippo for an instant. He was well accustomed to the young demon's love of practical jokes.
"And I suppose that those other two packages are for Songo and Miroku?" He asked.
"Yes. " Shippo answered. Inu-yasha was surprised at the sudden outburst of gratitude for all he'd done to help raise the young kitsune.
"Okay then, thanks." Inu-yasha told him and rubbed his fury little head again.
"Really, you mean it, you like it?" Shippo asked him.
"Sure, it's a fine dagger, and I can always use another tool for bashing in demons." The Hanyou replied as he leaped up into a tree to take his mid morning nap. Shippo was so happy, he scurried off then with his arms loaded down to find Songo and Miroku. If Inu-yasha had received his gift so well, then they would certainly love theirs'.
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"Oh it's beautiful." Songo said admiring the necklace that Shippo had given her. "What did you get?" She asked Miroku.
"It's a prayer scroll." He said disappointedly.
"Really, what's it say?" She wondered.
"It's a prayer for a long and prosperous life of celibacy." He was crushed but still it was the thought that counts, and Shippo had not forgotten any of them. Even Kirara got to play with the balls of torn up wrapping paper that were strewn about the floor.
"This had been a wonderful father's day." Shippo said happily as he watched his new family.
"Yes, but are you going to do for Mother' Day?" Myoga asked.
"Uh-oh," Shippo said.
The End
Father's Day
A Shippo Shorty.
Shippo hopped out of the well and ran to Kagome's front door. Kagome and her family were just sitting down to breakfast when he knocked loudly..
"Shippo, what are you doing here?" Kagome's mother asked when she opened the door.
"Oh nothing, I just came to see Kagome, and to snag a bite to eat. Songo's cooking gets a little old after a while." He told her.
"Well come on in." Kagome's mother fixed Shippo a place at the table and he and Sotta sat making funny faces and laughing while Kagome and her grandfather had another discussion about pickles and shrine history. "Kagome, tomorrow is father's day remember." Her mother reminded her. "We're going to visit your father's grave tomorrow so don't forget to pick up some flowers this afternoon."
"Okay Mom, thanks for reminding me." Kagome said getting up from the table. Shippo watched them for a moment then he got up too. He walked with Kagome to the steps of the well house and then stopped.
"Kagome, what is Father's day?" He asked her. Kagome stopped then too and looked down at her small friend. She wasn't sure what he was really asking her at first.
"What's father's day?" She said. "Oh, well that's a good question. You don't know about holidays and things, do you. I suppose the best way to describe it is a day to honor your father." She explained. "For us though, it's a time to remember father and to lay flowers on his grave."
"So then you really didn't know your father." Shippo said. "I didn't really know mine that well either. I know that he loved me though."
"Then that's all that matters." Kagome said to him. "I'll see you later, go home now, the others must be worried about you. I can already hear Inu-yasha."
"Yep." Shippo hopped into the well and in the blink of an eye he was gone, back to the feudal era.
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Kagome thought about her answer to Shippo about father's day and then about her own father. It had been hard on them all, living without him all those years. There were times when Kagome would have really liked to have a father to talk to about things. But she had her mother, grandfather, and little brother. They weren't the most perfect family in the world but they were her family. She also had Inu-yasha, Shippo, Songo, Miroku, and Keade. They were just like family to her. Then she remembered that she was meeting her friends that day and she rushed off.
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Shippo emerged from the well and scurried back to the hut where Songo and Miroku were already fighting over something and Inu-yasha was sitting in one corner sharpening his sword.
"I'm back, did you miss me?" He asked pleasantly.
"Nope." Inu-yasha replied, "Barely noticed that you were gone." This made poor little Shippo kind of cross with the Han-you and so he turned away. "Hey, polish this up for me." He said tossing the sheath to him. Shippo looked down at the sheath and then at Inu-yasha.
"Really?" He asked.
"Sure, why not." Shippo smiled and took a clean rag out of the cupboard. Inu-yasha had never let him even come near the Tetseiga before, now he was letting him clean the sheath. This was amazing. Shippo really wanted to do a good job for him so he polished and rubbed until his hands were sore. When he was done, he handed the sheath back to Inu-yasha gently. "Yep, good job kiddo."
"Thanks." Shippo replied happily then sat down to watch as Inu-yasha wrapped the sword and sheath up in a blanket and laid them in a trunk. "Aren't you gonna wear it?" He asked.
"No reason to right now. There are no monsters to fight and no shards to collect either. I've got it nice and clean, and sharp, so now I'm just gonna let it rest. You shouldn't worry about it so much squirt." Inu-yasha told him, then rubbed his furry little head. It was then that Shippo realized something. That Inu-yasha was the closest thing to a father that he had. Kagome was like a mother to him and Songo and Miroku were like his Aunt and Uncle.
"Wow." Shippo thought as he hung around the hut that day. "They really are like my family. I should do something nice for them tomorrow on Father's day to show them all that I care about them." But what to do, he wondered. "I can't get them all flowers, but I could get them all something really nice." He took out his pouch that he wore around his neck and looked at what he had squirreled away. He had two gold pieces, a stick of gum that Kagome had given him, and an old button. "Well this won't buy much." He said to himself. "Not in my time anyway, but I remember that in Kagome's time, coins like these are worth a lot of money." He ran back to hut and grabbed his fox cub pajamas then he ran to the well and jumped in. With a careful disguise he could trade his two gold pieces for some money and buy his friends something nice from Kagome's time. The problem was where to go to, to trade in his gold pieces. He didn't know any coin dealers but he did know of one person who collected coins and just about anything else.
"Wow shippo, these are terrific coins." Mokuba Kaiba said as he examined the two pieces of gold under a microscope. "How much do you want for them?"
"I don't know, enough to buy something nice for Inu-yasha and the others." He said.
"Okay, well, how about I pay you ten thousand yen each, then I'll help you pick out something nice for your friends." Mokuba said.
"You'd do that for me?" Shippo asked.
"Oh yeah, I have to go shopping for Setto today anyway, he wants me to pick up some new cards for him that just came out."
"Sounds good." Shippo said and then he and Mokuba left the Kaiba Corp headquarters together in the corporate limo.
"If there's one thing I know how to do, Shippo, it's help people find what they're looking for. My brother says that's a good business skill and that it'll take me far one day when I strike out on my own." Mokuba told him.
"You mean that you'd actually leave your brother's company and start your own?" Shippo asked, looking over at him.
"No, not really, at least not right now. Setto says that I should consider it one day when I'm older and have a better understanding of business. Still, being the number two man at Kaiba Corp is exciting enough. I'd never leave for anything." The ride to the mall was insightful for Shippo, he learned a great deal more about the future time than even Kagome had told him. Mokuba Kaiba was friendly, helpful, and fun to hand around. The two of them were close to the same ages too, so that made it easier for the two of them to get along. They went window shopping at all the malls, took in a movie, and even had lunch out. This was actually more like a play date. In the end though, priorities had to come first. Mokuba found the cards that his brother wanted and then he helped Shippo pick out some gifts that he knew the others would enjoy.
"Here we go." Mokuba said. "Kagome will love this French perfume. And if I'm any judge of character, Songo will like this necklace."
"Great, now what about Miroku and Inu-yasha?" Shippo asked. Mokuba had to think about that for a moment. Buying gifts for girls was easy, buying gifts for guys was a lot harder and especially so for guys who lived back the feudal era.
"Well, there is one place full of stuff that I know Miroku would like but we're too young to go in there. " Just then though, Mokuba came up with a spectacular idea. There was an old antique store not far away that sold things like swords, knives, masks, and other neat stuff. They could go there and try find something. They hopped into the limo and sped away from the mall. Daylight was wasting away into dusk and the shop would be closed before long.
The old antique store was a little run down and covered with vines but it was still very nicely decorated on the inside. Mokuba and Shippo looked around while they waited for the shop keeper to attend them. The store was filled with lots of old knickknacks, books, and weapons. They had definitely come to the right place. Just then though, a spooky old woman came from behind the counter at them.
"Aaaahhh!" They screamed as she danced around them in and old Noh mask.
"Just a little joke youngsters, no need to be frightened." The old woman said taking off the mask and showing an even more hideous face. "Now what can I help you with?" She asked. Shippo came out from behind Mokuba, where he'd been hiding, and gulped.
"Uh, I need some help finding a gift for my friends Inu-yasha and Miroku." He said, still frightened. The old woman pondered over the matter for a moment.
"A gift for your friends, well that's something, not too many people in a generous mood these days, it's all about me, me, me and what can I get for myself. This requires me to bring out some of my good stuff." The old woman quickly vanished into the back room and then reappeared again. "It would help if you could tell me a little more about them." She said.
"Well, Miroku's a Monk, but he's not a very good one and Inu-yasha is a brave warrior." Shippo told her.
"A brave warrior and an untrustworthy monk. Not too many of those around anymore, either. Let me see." Clattering and clinking and shattering could be heard coming from the back room as the old woman searched franticly. Mokuba and Shippo waited patiently until at last the old woman came back out again with two very special items in her hands. "These should do nicely." She told them. "This is a prayer scroll handed down from my father's father's father's father. And this is the dagger of the dead. Whomever possess it is said to hold mystic powers over the dead."
"Wow!" Shippo exclaimed. "I'll take them both." He pulled out his cash and handed it over to the old woman who counted it quickly then stuffed it away.
"They are yours, but remember, these are mystical items, not to be used for petty grasping ambitions. Beware that you nor your friends ever use them for selfish purposes." The old woman vanished into a puff of blue smoke then and left Mokuba and Shippo to leave the shop of their own accord.
"Well, it's been fun Shippo." Mokuba said to his new friend, "Where can I drop you at, the Shrine?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Do you think that you could give me a hand with these packages first though." He said climbing into the limo.
"Sure, I'll even carry them to the well house for you." Shippo's day of fun and games and shopping was over and he was going back home a happy little kitsune for the trouble he'd gone to for his family and when Father's day came they all awoke to a big surprise.
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"What's this?" Kagome asked as she awoke that morning to find a small package on her nightstand. "It's from Shippo. To my new Mom, the best mom of the face of the earth, love Shippo. New mom?" She was very surprised and flattered by the thoughtfulness of the gift. She opened the small neatly wrapped package "Wow!" She exclaimed, "This is expensive stuff. French perfume. That sweet little guy, he's going to get a s special dinner for this tonight."
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"Father's day, what's that?" Inu-yasha demanded as Shippo wished him a good father's day.
"It's a day to remember one's father and you're the closest thing I have to one, so I got you this." Shippo said handing over the dagger. Inu-yasha looked at his suspiciously for a moment.
"A hary-kary dagger, what's the joke?" He asked.
"No joke, a real gift just for you. It's the Dagger of The Dead, and it's said to have mystical powers over the dead," Shippo said presenting the dagger while kneeling prostrate on the ground before the mighty half demon who'd taken him in. Inu-yasha picked up the dagger and examined it carefully, pulling it slowly from its sheath, reading the inscription on the blade, and never taking his eye off Shippo for an instant. He was well accustomed to the young demon's love of practical jokes.
"And I suppose that those other two packages are for Songo and Miroku?" He asked.
"Yes. " Shippo answered. Inu-yasha was surprised at the sudden outburst of gratitude for all he'd done to help raise the young kitsune.
"Okay then, thanks." Inu-yasha told him and rubbed his fury little head again.
"Really, you mean it, you like it?" Shippo asked him.
"Sure, it's a fine dagger, and I can always use another tool for bashing in demons." The Hanyou replied as he leaped up into a tree to take his mid morning nap. Shippo was so happy, he scurried off then with his arms loaded down to find Songo and Miroku. If Inu-yasha had received his gift so well, then they would certainly love theirs'.
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"Oh it's beautiful." Songo said admiring the necklace that Shippo had given her. "What did you get?" She asked Miroku.
"It's a prayer scroll." He said disappointedly.
"Really, what's it say?" She wondered.
"It's a prayer for a long and prosperous life of celibacy." He was crushed but still it was the thought that counts, and Shippo had not forgotten any of them. Even Kirara got to play with the balls of torn up wrapping paper that were strewn about the floor.
"This had been a wonderful father's day." Shippo said happily as he watched his new family.
"Yes, but are you going to do for Mother' Day?" Myoga asked.
"Uh-oh," Shippo said.
The End